title: High diversity of protistan plankton communities in remote high mountain lakes in the European Alps and the Himalayan mountains.
abstract: We analyzed the genetic diversity (V4 region of the 18S rRNA) of planktonic microbial eukaryotes in four high mountain lakes including two remote biogeographic regions (the Himalayan mountains and the European Alps) and distinct habitat types (clear and glacier-fed turbid lakes). The recorded high genetic diversity in these lakes was far beyond of what is described from high mountain lake plankton. In total, we detected representatives from 66 families with the main taxon groups being Alveolata (55.0% OTUs 97%, operational taxonomic units), Stramenopiles (34.0% OTUs 97%), Cryptophyta (4.0% OTUs 97%), Chloroplastida (3.6% OTUs 97%) and Fungi (1.7% OTUs 97%). Centrohelida, Choanomonada, Rhizaria, Katablepharidae and Telonema were represented by <1% OTUs 97%. Himalayan lakes harbored a higher plankton diversity compared to the Alpine lakes (Shannon index). Community structures were significantly different between lake types and biogeographic regions (Fisher exact test, P < 0.01). Network analysis revealed that more families of the Chloroplastida (10 vs 5) and the Stramenopiles (14 vs 8) were found in the Himalayan lakes than in the Alpine lakes and none of the fungal families was shared between them. Biogeographic aspects as well as ecological factors such as water turbidity may structure the microbial eukaryote plankton communities in such remote lakes.
authors.affiliation: University of Innsbruck, Institute of Ecology, Lake and Glacier Research Group, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria University of Innsbruck, Research Institute for Limnology, Mondsee, Ciliate Ecology and Taxonomy Group, Mondseestrasse 9, 5310 Mondsee, Austria.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kammerlander
authors.affiliation: University of Kaiserslautern, Department of Ecology, Gottlieb-Daimler-Strasse Building 14, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Werner
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Breiner
authors.affiliation: University of Kaiserslautern, Department of Ecology, Gottlieb-Daimler-Strasse Building 14, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Filker
authors.affiliation: University of Innsbruck, Institute of Ecology, Lake and Glacier Research Group, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Ruben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sommaruga
authors.affiliation: University of Innsbruck, Research Institute for Limnology, Mondsee, Ciliate Ecology and Taxonomy Group, Mondseestrasse 9, 5310 Mondsee, Austria.
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sonntag
authors.affiliation: University of Kaiserslautern, Department of Ecology, Gottlieb-Daimler-Strasse Building 14, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany stoeck@rhrk.uni-kl.de.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stoeck
mesh_terms: D056893:Alveolata / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D001317:Austria; D001483:Base Sequence; D044822:Biodiversity; D044785:Cryptophyta / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D060106:Lakes; D009390:Nepal; D010802:Phylogeny; D010933:Plankton / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D058009:Stramenopiles / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics
keywords: alpine lakes; diversity; next-generation sequencing