title: Recurring patterns in bacterioplankton dynamics during coastal spring algae blooms.
abstract: A process of global importance in carbon cycling is the remineralization of algae biomass by heterotrophic bacteria, most notably during massive marine algae blooms. Such blooms can trigger secondary blooms of planktonic bacteria that consist of swift successions of distinct bacterial clades, most prominently members of the Flavobacteriia, Gammaproteobacteria and the alphaproteobacterial Roseobacter clade. We investigated such successions during spring phytoplankton blooms in the southern North Sea (German Bight) for four consecutive years. Dense sampling and high-resolution taxonomic analyses allowed the detection of recurring patterns down to the genus level. Metagenome analyses also revealed recurrent patterns at the functional level, in particular with respect to algal polysaccharide degradation genes. We, therefore, hypothesize that even though there is substantial inter-annual variation between spring phytoplankton blooms, the accompanying succession of bacterial clades is largely governed by deterministic principles such as substrate-induced forcing.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hanno
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Teeling
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernhard M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christin M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bennke
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chafee
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Lennart
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kappelmann
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Greta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reintjes
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jost
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waldmann
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quast
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank Oliver
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Glöckner
authors.affiliation: Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Helgoland, Germany.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.affiliation: Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Helgoland, Germany.
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wichels
authors.affiliation: Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Helgoland, Germany.
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gerdts
authors.affiliation: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, List auf Sylt, Germany.
authors.forename: Karen H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Wiltshire
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Rudolf I
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0846-7372
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Amann
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058448:Biota; D005068:Eutrophication; D005858:Germany; D056186:Metagenomics; D009659:North Sea; D010933:Plankton / Q000382:microbiology*; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: bacterial decomposition of algal biomass during blooms; coastal shelf spring phytoplankton blooms; ecology; infectious disease; marine bacterioplankton; marine carbon cycling; marine microbial biodiversity; marine phytoplankton; microbiology