Stratification of microbial assemblages in Mono Lake, California, and response to a mixing event

Vertical profiles of microbial assemblages from samples of Mono Lake water collected in July 1994 and in April and July 1995 were obtained by analyzing DNA via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. The microbial assemblage was vertically stratified and distributions of individual ribotypes were coherent with temperature, salinity, irradiance and dissolved oxygen distributions at the beginning of the study in July of 1994. The lake mixed completely during the winter of 1994–1995 and was beginning to stratify thermally by April 1995. Water column gradients were weak and oxygen was depleted at depth. The microbial assemblage was uniformly distributed throughout the water column except at 20 m, where one band dominated. The microbial assemblage was vertically stratified again by July 1995. Partial sequences (134–160 bp, except one of 83 bp) obtained from DGGE bands revealed affinities to known organisms, but only one potentially exact match was found. With a few exceptions, the same ribotypes were present on all sampling dates; there was no evidence for a marked seasonal succession in microbial community composition, despite the dramatic changes in limnological conditions that accompanied the winter overturn. A band that was ubiquitous in samples from the oxycline and hypolimnion in July of both years was found throughout the water column in April. This sequence could be attributed to the chloroplast rRNA gene of an unusual phytoplankter, the green alga Picocystis salinarum.