title: Bacterial Diversity in Bohai Bay Solar Saltworks, China.
abstract: The microbiota in solar salterns plays an important role in salt production quantitatively and qualitatively. Bohai Bay coast is the major sea salt producing area in China. However, few ecological characterization studies of the Bohai Bay salt ponds, particularly of their microbial diversity, have been conducted. This study investigated the structure and diversity of the bacterial community in Hangu saltworks in response to environmental factors. The brine water was sampled from five selected saltponds within a salinity range of 5.0-19.3% in May, July, and October, 2012. Phylogenetic analysis based on the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) patterns of the PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragment showed that, rather than pond salinity, especially the month of sampling influenced the structure of the bacterial community in the saltponds, which may be related to the water temperature or other factors fluctuating over the months. Moreover, canonical correspondence analysis of biological and physico-chemical parameters indicated that especially other environmental factors such as nitrogenous and phosphorous nutrient contents and pH structured the microbial community. The relatively high range-weighted richness index and Shannon-Wiener index (H') observed in this study reflect the high level of richness and biodiversity present, though there were substantial fluctuations over the months and salinities of sampling. The fragment of 16S rRNA gene sequence recovered from DGGE bands indicated that the bacterial assemblage in Hangu Saltworks was dominated by members of γ-Proteobacteria (34% of total sequences obtained), followed by Firmicutes (14%) and Bacteroidetes (9%).
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, College of Marine and Environmental Science, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
authors.forename: Jiaojiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, College of Marine and Environmental Science, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
authors.forename: Guannan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, College of Marine and Environmental Science, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
authors.forename: Yuangao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, College of Marine and Environmental Science, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
authors.forename: Jinggang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Aquaculture and Artemia Reference Center, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gilbert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Stappen
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, College of Marine and Environmental Science, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China. suily@tust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Liying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sui
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058448:Biota; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds / Q000032:analysis; D010710:Phosphates / Q000032:analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D054712:Salinity; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds; D010710:Phosphates; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S