Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Volume 54, Issue 13, Pages 8443-8454Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c01931
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Internal Investment Fund of the Cawthron Institute
- Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO [CGL2016-79209-R]
- Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) [13/RC/2092]
- European Regional Development Fund
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In this study, the evolution of ballast water (BW) assemblages across different trophic levels was characterized over a 21 day cross-latitudinal vessel transit using a combination of molecular methods. Triplicate BW samples were collected every second day and size-fractionated (<2.7, 10, >50 mu m). Measurements of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and metabarcoding of environmental nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) analyses, complemented by microscopy and flow cytometry, were performed on each sample. Measured ATP concentrations exhibited high variance between replicates and a strong negative trend in the large (>50 mu m) fraction over the voyage. In concert with microscopy, the metabarcoding data indicated a die-off of larger metazoans during the first week of study and gradual reductions in dinoflagellates and ochrophytes. The ATP and metabarcoding data signaled persistent or increased cellular activity of heterotrophic bacteria and protists in the BW, which was supported by flow cytometry. The metabarcoding showed the presence of active bacteria in all size fractions, suggesting that the sequential filtration approach does not ensure taxonomical differentiation, which has implications for BW quality assessment. Although our data show that ATP and metabarcoding have potential for indicative BW screening for BW compliance monitoring, further research and technological development is needed to improve representativeness of sampling and deliver the unequivocal response criteria required by the international Ballast Water Management Convention.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available