title: Identification of photosynthetic plankton communities using sedimentary ancient DNA and their response to late-Holocene climate change on the Tibetan Plateau.
abstract: Sediments from Tibetan lakes in NW China are potentially sensitive recorders of climate change and its impact on ecosystem function. However, the important plankton members in many Tibetan Lakes do not make and leave microscopically diagnostic features in the sedimentary record. Here we established a taxon-specific molecular approach to specifically identify and quantify sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) of non-fossilized planktonic organisms preserved in a 5-m sediment core from Kusai Lake spanning the last 3100 years. The reliability of the approach was validated with multiple independent genetic markers. Parallel analyses of the geochemistry of the core and paleo-climate proxies revealed that Monsoon strength-driven changes in nutrient availability, temperature, and salinity as well as orbitally-driven changes in light intensity were all responsible for the observed temporal changes in the abundance of two dominant phytoplankton groups in the lake, Synechococcus (cyanobacteria) and Isochrysis (haptophyte algae). Collectively our data show that global and regional climatic events exhibited a strong influence on the paleoecology of phototrophic plankton in Kusai Lake.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Weiguo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: 1] State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China [2] Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, USA.
authors.forename: Hailiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Gaoyuan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
authors.forename: Marco J L
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Coolen
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Resources &Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, PR China.
authors.forename: Xingqi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Shang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Hongchen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Haiyi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Collage of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lian
authors.affiliation: Department of Geochemistry and Environmental Science, College of Geoscience, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China.
authors.forename: Yunyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D057231:Climate Change; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017753:Ecosystem; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D010933:Plankton / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D004247:DNA