Temporal Analysis of Bacterioplankton Community Structure in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

Bacteria are found in all oceans around the globe and are vital to many processes in the ocean. Evidence shows that bacteria are a dominant taxa in the marine environment with both abundance and contribution to the biological processes. Resource availability and environmental parameters are both key factors in determining bacterioplankton growth and community structure. Understanding temporal changes in the microbial community structure in the Gulf of Mexico has the potential to shed new light on the transfer of energy into and out of the system as well as through higher trophic levels. A two-year seasonal study was conducted at a station 40 km south of Choctawhatchee Bay on the Florida Shelf in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico. Water column samples were collected from surface and bottom waters (~90 m) and mid-water deep chlorophyll maxima when present. In addition to microbial diversity, chemical, physical, and biological environmental parameters such as production, nutrients, temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a, and bacterial counts were also taken. 16S rDNA clone libraries were used to analyze temporal patterns and community structure of bacteria at fourteen timepoints and compared to the environmental data. Community structure patterns were seasonal in nature. The primary factors driving community structure are under statistical analyses.