Communities of microeukaryotes in reservoirs of the Angara Cascade
Analysis of the composition of communities using the HTS of total DNA isolated from natural samples reveals a significantly higher taxonomic diversity than traditional microscopy methods, which gives a more complete picture of the ecological state of the studied water body, and analysis of samples taken at certain intervals makes it possible to observe the dynamics of communities.As a geographical object of research, we chose a large freshwater ecosystem that combines a lake, a large river flowing from it, a network of reservoirs on it, and small rivers flowing into the channel of the main river along its course (Baikal-Angara , reservoirs of the Angara cascade, located on the territory of the Irkutsk area). The working hypothesis is as follows: the taxonomic composition of microeukaryotes of the Angara River is inherited from Lake Baikal, enriched with species as it flows and tributaries flow into it, some species are preserved in reservoirs; along the course, with a change in the parameters of the habitat, microbial communities undergo changes in the taxonomic composition.In order to test this working hypothesis and obtain more complete information about the studied large freshwater ecosystem, the following tasks will be solved during the project: (1) Identification of the taxonomic diversity of microeukaryotes by HTS methods in comparison with microscopy data; (2) analysis of the dynamics of microbial communities and correlations between microeukaryotes, bacteria, and environmental factors on a multitemporal scale; (3) Creation of a methodological basis for monitoring microeukaryotes in freshwater ecosystems in terms of their possible changes.