AUTHOR=Yan Yong-Wei , Jiang Qiu-Yue , Wang Jian-Gong , Zhu Ting , Zou Bin , Qiu Qiong-Fen , Quan Zhe-Xue TITLE=Microbial Communities and Diversities in Mudflat Sediments Analyzed Using a Modified Metatranscriptomic Method JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00093 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.00093 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=
Intertidal mudflats are land–sea interaction areas and play important roles in global nutrient cycles. However, a comprehensive understanding of microbial communities in these mudflats remains elusive. In this study, mudflat sediment samples from the Dongtan wetland of Chongming Island, the largest alluvial island in the world, were collected. Using a modified metatranscriptomic method, the depth-wise distributions of potentially active microbial communities were investigated based on small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) sequences. Multiple environmental factors were also measured and analyzed in conjunction with the prokaryotic composition profiles. A prokaryotic diversity analysis based on the metatranscriptome datasets revealed two or threefold higher diversity indices (associated with potentially active microbes participating in biogeochemical processes in Dongtan) compared with the diversity indices based on 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Bacteria were numerically dominant relative to archaea, and the potentially active prokaryotic taxa were mostly assigned to the bacterial phyla