Sea-ice eukaryotes of the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea, and evidence for herbivory on weakly shade-adapted ice algae

Markus Majaneva; Jaanika Blomster; Susann Müller; Riitta Autio; Sanna Majaneva; Kirsi Hyytiäinen; Satoshi Nagai; Janne-Markus Rintala

doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2016.10.005

Sea-ice eukaryotes of the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea, and evidence for herbivory on weakly shade-adapted ice algae

Eur J Protistol. 2017 Feb:57:1-15. doi: 10.1016/j.ejop.2016.10.005. Epub 2016 Oct 24.

Authors

Markus Majaneva¹, Jaanika Blomster², Susann Müller³, Riitta Autio⁴, Sanna Majaneva⁵, Kirsi Hyytiäinen³, Satoshi Nagai⁶, Janne-Markus Rintala⁵

Affiliations

¹ Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, J.A. Palménin tie 260, 10900 Hanko, Finland; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Marine Research Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140, 00251 Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: markus.majaneva@gmail.com.
² Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
³ Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, J.A. Palménin tie 260, 10900 Hanko, Finland; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Marine Research Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140, 00251 Helsinki, Finland.
⁵ Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, J.A. Palménin tie 260, 10900 Hanko, Finland; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Marine Research Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140, 00251 Helsinki, Finland.
⁶ Research Center for Aquatic Genomics, National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Kanazawa-ku 236-8648, Japan.

PMID: 28011294
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2016.10.005

Abstract

To determine community composition and physiological status of early spring sea-ice organisms, we collected sea-ice, slush and under-ice water samples from the Baltic Sea. We combined light microscopy, HPLC pigment analysis and pyrosequencing, and related the biomass and physiological status of sea-ice algae with the protistan community composition in a new way in the area. In terms of biomass, centric diatoms including a distinct Melosira arctica bloom in the upper intermediate section of the fast ice, dinoflagellates, euglenoids and the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon sp. predominated in the sea-ice sections and unidentified flagellates in the slush. Based on pigment analyses, the ice-algal communities showed no adjusted photosynthetic pigment pools throughout the sea ice, and the bottom-ice communities were not shade-adapted. The sea ice included more characteristic phototrophic taxa (49%) than did slush (18%) and under-ice water (37%). Cercozoans and ciliates were the richest taxon groups, and the differences among the communities arose mainly from the various phagotrophic protistan taxa inhabiting the communities. The presence of pheophytin a coincided with an elevated ciliate biomass and read abundance in the drift ice and with a high Eurytemora affinis read abundance in the pack ice, indicating that ciliates and Eurytemora affinis were grazing on algae.

Keywords: 18S rRNA gene; Accessory pigments; Herbivory; Photoacclimation; Sea ice.

MeSH terms

Biodiversity*
Biomass
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Cyanobacteria / chemistry
Cyanobacteria / isolation & purification
Cyanobacteria / physiology
Diatoms / physiology
Eukaryota / chemistry
Eukaryota / isolation & purification
Eukaryota / physiology*
Finland
Herbivory*
Ice Cover / parasitology*
Microscopy
Oceans and Seas
Pigments, Biological / analysis*
Pigments, Biological / chemistry
Sunlight

Substances

Pigments, Biological