title: Regional variations in the diversity and predicted metabolic potential of benthic prokaryotes in coastal northern Zhejiang, East China Sea.
abstract: Knowledge about the drivers of benthic prokaryotic diversity and metabolic potential in interconnected coastal sediments at regional scales is limited. We collected surface sediments across six zones covering ~200 km in coastal northern Zhejiang, East China Sea and combined 16 S rRNA gene sequencing, community-level metabolic prediction, and sediment physicochemical measurements to investigate variations in prokaryotic diversity and metabolic gene composition with geographic distance and under local environmental conditions. Geographic distance was the most influential factor in prokaryotic β-diversity compared with major environmental drivers, including temperature, sediment texture, acid-volatile sulfide, and water depth, but a large unexplained variation in community composition suggested the potential effects of unmeasured abiotic/biotic factors and stochastic processes. Moreover, prokaryotic assemblages showed a biogeographic provincialism across the zones. The predicted metabolic gene composition similarly shifted as taxonomic composition did. Acid-volatile sulfide was strongly correlated with variation in metabolic gene composition. The enrichments in the relative abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria and genes relevant with dissimilatory sulfate reduction were observed and predicted, respectively, in the Yushan area. These results provide insights into the relative importance of geographic distance and environmental condition in driving benthic prokaryotic diversity in coastal areas and predict specific biogeochemically-relevant genes for future studies.
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Zhejiang Marine High-efficiency and Healthy Aquaculture, Ningbo, 315211, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Marine Environmental Monitoring Center of Ningbo, SOA, Ningbo, 315012, China.
authors.forename: Xiansen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China.
authors.forename: Huajun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China.|Faculty of Architectural, Civil Engineering and Environment, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China.
authors.forename: Heping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center for Zhejiang Marine High-efficiency and Healthy Aquaculture, Ningbo, 315211, China.
authors.forename: Demin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Marine Environmental Monitoring Center of Ningbo, SOA, Ningbo, 315012, China.
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism; D014871:Water Microbiology