Community structure and potential nitrogen metabolisms of subtropical aquaculture pond microbiota

Abstract

Microorganisms play a substantial role in the aquatic nitrogen cycle. However, the community structures and metabolic potential of microbiota inhabiting subtropical aquaculture ponds are still poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the community structure of pond microbiota by amplicons sequencing using the MiSeq sequencing platform and predicted their potential metabolic characteristics. A total of 614 dominant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were detected from 27 samples, of which 61 were dominant in more than half of the samples. Many of the taxa observed in this study have known roles in nitrification and denitrification. In addition, most genes related to nitrogen metabolism were detected using a predictive metagenome approach, and a complementary pattern in which ponds had different genes in the same metabolic pathway emerged. These results provide basic information for the management of microbiota to control the nitrogen balance in pond water.