Water masses and their associated temperature and cross-domain biotic factors co-shape upwelling microbial communities

Disentangling the drivers and mechanisms that shape microbial communities in a river-influenced coastal up welling system requires considering a hydrologic dimension that can drive both deterministic and stochastic community assembly by generating hydrological heterogeneity and dispersal events. Additionally, ubiquitous and complex microbial interactions can play a significant role in community structuring. However, how the hydrology, biotic, and abiotic factors collectively shape microbial distribution in the hydrologically complicated river plume-upwelling coupling system remains unknown. Through underway sampling and daily observations, we employed 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA sequencing to disentangle drivers and mechanisms shaping the protistbacteria microbiota in a river-influenced coastal upwelling system. Our findings indicate that the composition of microbial communities was water mass specific. Collectively, water mass, local water chemistry (mostly temperature) and biotic interaction (mostly cross-domain biotic interaction) shaped the protistan-bacterial communities. In comparison to protists, bacteria were more influenced by abiotic factors such as temperature than by cross-domain biotic factors, implying a stronger coupling of geochemical cycles. Both deterministic and stochastic processes had an effect on the distribution of microbial communities, but deterministic processes were more important for bacteria and were especially pronounced for upwelling communities. The co-occurrence network revealed strong associations between the protistan assemblages Orchrophyta and Ciliophora and the bacterial assemblages Alphaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, which may reflect predation and mutualism interactions. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of taking water masses, temperature and domains of life into account when seeking to understand the drivers and assemblies of protist-bacteria microbiome dynamics in coastal upwelling systems, which is especially true given the complex and dynamic nature of the coastal ecosystem.

Automated summary

This study reveals the drivers and mechanisms shaping protist-bacteria microbiota in a river-influenced coastal upwelling system using 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA sequencing. It shows that water mass, temperature, and biotic/abiotic factors collectively shape the microbial distribution. Deterministic and stochastic processes both play a role in community assembly, with deterministic processes being more important for bacteria and pronounced in upwelling communities.