Growth rates of different phylogenetic bacterioplankton groups in a coastal upwelling system

Microbial degradation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in planktonic ecosystems is carried out by diverse prokaryotic communities, whose growth rates and patterns of DOM utilization modulate carbon and nutrient biogeochemical cycles at local and global scales. Nine dilution experiments (September 2007 to June 2008) were conducted with surface water from the highly productive coastal upwelling system of the R a de Vigo (NW Iberian Peninsula) to estimate bacterial growth rates of six relevant marine bacterial groups: Roseobacter, SAR11, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, SAR86 and Bacteroidetes. Surprisingly, SAR11 dominated over the other bacterial groups in autumn, likely associated to the entry of nutrient-rich, DOC-poor Eastern North Atlantic Central Water (ENACW) into the embayment. Roseobacter and SAR11 showed significantly opposing growth characteristics. SAR11 consistently grows at low rates (range 0.19-0.71 day(-1)), while Roseobacter has a high growth potential (range 0.70-1.64 day(-1)). In contrast, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, SAR86 and Gammaproteobacteria growth rates widely varied among experiments. Regardless of such temporal variability, mean SAR86 growth rate (range 0.1-1.4 day(-1)) was significantly lower than that of Gammaproteobacteria (range 0.3-2.1 day(-1)). Whereas the relative abundance of different bacterial groups showed strong correlations with several environmental variables, group-specific bacterial growth rates did not co-vary with ambient conditions. Our results suggest that different bacterial groups exhibit characteristic growth rates, and, consequently, distinct competitive abilities to succeed under contrasting environmental conditions.