Investigations on cyanobacterial diversity in a shallow estuary (Southern Baltic Sea) including genes relevant to salinity resistance and iron starvation acclimation

Summary The cyanobacterial diversity in the pelagic of a shallow estuary at the Southern Baltic Sea has been investigated by a combination of classical morphological data and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based molecular approach. The aim of the study was to investigate possible changes in the composition of the cyanobacterial community along the salinity and nutrient gradients. For this purpose partial gene sequences of cyanobacterial 16S rDNA and of two functional genes (ggpS– salinity tolerance marker, isiA– iron starvation marker) were amplified and compared with total community DNA. Random distribution of ggpS genotypes along the salinity gradient suggests that synthesis of the osmolyte glucosylglycerol is not restricted to higher salinity sampling sites. Most of the isiA sequences formed a new homogenous cluster in a phylogenetic tree, which indicates that the indigenous cyanobacterial community comprises a group of unknown species. Minimum iron concentrations, which can activate isiA transcription in model cyanobacteria, occurred at a few sampling sites with high phytoplankton biomass and moderate salinity. Nevertheless, isiA expression could be detected at all sampling sites, which indicated restricted iron supply to cyanobacterial phytoplankton in summer.