Are you filtering enough? Unveiling the impact of water sample volumes on eukaryotic microbial community in freshwater lakes
Creators: name: Chen, Xinyu
name: Wang, Chen
name: Shen, Zhen
name: Lv, Jiaming
name: Yu, Bobing
name: Shao, Keqiang
name: Tang, Xiangming
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Inorganic Chemistry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences

description: The appropriate volume of filtered water samples is crucial for accurately reflecting microbial community characteristics. Previous research has shown that changes in water sample volumes significantly affect bacterial diversity and the relative abundance of dominant taxa in marine environments. However, the specific impact on freshwater microbial diversity and community structure, particularly for eukaryotic microorganisms, remains unclear. To address this gap, we collected water samples from eutrophic Lake Taihu and mesotrophic Lake Bosten. We filtered the samples through 0.2 μm filters using volumes ranging from 0.1 to 2 L for Lake Taihu and 0.1 to 3.2 L for Lake Bosten. Analysis of 18S rRNA gene amplicons revealed that variations in filtered water sample volume significantly affected the diversity, community structure, and composition of eukaryotic microorganisms. In light of these findings, we recommend using a filtered water sample volume of approximately 0.2 L for eutrophic aquatic ecosystems and 0.8 L for mesotrophic aquatic ecosystems in microbial analyses. These recommendations underscore the importance of selecting the appropriate filtered water sample volume to ensure representative and reliable results in the study of eukaryotic microorganisms in freshwater ecosystems. Impact of Filtered Water Volume on Microbial Analysis: The study highlights the significant influence of filtered water sample volumes on the analysis of eukaryotic microbial diversity, community composition, and species representation in freshwater ecosystems, emphasizing the need for careful volume selection in microbial studies.Optimal Filtration Volumes Identified: Specific recommendations for filtered water sample volumes are provided, with 0.2 L suggested for eutrophic ecosystems like Lake Taihu and 0.8 L for mesotrophic ecosystems like Lake Bosten, ensuring accurate and reliable representation of microbial communities.Differential Effects in Eutrophic and Mesotrophic Ecosystems: The research demonstrates that eutrophic and mesotrophic ecosystems require different filtration volumes to capture microbial diversity accurately, with eutrophic systems needing smaller volumes to avoid a decline in diversity indices and mesotrophic systems requiring larger volumes to maximize diversity and richness. Impact of Filtered Water Volume on Microbial Analysis: The study highlights the significant influence of filtered water sample volumes on the analysis of eukaryotic microbial diversity, community composition, and species representation in freshwater ecosystems, emphasizing the need for careful volume selection in microbial studies. Optimal Filtration Volumes Identified: Specific recommendations for filtered water sample volumes are provided, with 0.2 L suggested for eutrophic ecosystems like Lake Taihu and 0.8 L for mesotrophic ecosystems like Lake Bosten, ensuring accurate and reliable representation of microbial communities. Differential Effects in Eutrophic and Mesotrophic Ecosystems: The research demonstrates that eutrophic and mesotrophic ecosystems require different filtration volumes to capture microbial diversity accurately, with eutrophic systems needing smaller volumes to avoid a decline in diversity indices and mesotrophic systems requiring larger volumes to maximize diversity and richness.