Dynamics of purple sulfur bacteria in a meromictic saline Lake Shunet (Khakassia, Siberia) in 2007–2013

Abstract

According to the results of seasonal monitoring, in 2007–2013 purple sulfur bacteria morphologically similar to Thiocapsa sp. Shira_1 (AJ633676 in EMBL/GenBank) predominated in the anoxygenic phototrophic community of the water column of the meromictic Lake Shira (Khakassia, Siberia). No pronounced seasonal periodicity in the total cell number in the water column was revealed during the period of observation. In some years cell number during the period when the lake was covered with ice was reliably higher than in summer. The absence of seasonal periodicity was probably due to the low amplitude of seasonal variations in temperature and illumination in the redox zone, resulting from its relatively deep location (12–16 m). The year-to-year dynamics was characterized by a reliable decrease of the total cell number in 2009–2010 and maxima in 2007 and 2011–2012. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that water temperature in the redox zone was the best predictor of the PSB abundance in Lake Shira. Water temperature, in turn, depended on the depth of mixing of the water column. Intense mixing in 2009–2011 was probably responsible for decreased PSB abundance in the lake. On the other hand, the absence of deep winter mixing, resulting in stable conditions in the chemocline, favored the preservation of relatively high PSB biomass. Prediction of circulation depth, which depends mainly on the weather conditions and dynamics of the water level, is required for prediction of PSB abundance in Lake Shira. These results may be useful for paleolimnological reconstructions of the history of the lake based on the remnants of purple sulfur bacteria in bottom sediments.