Bacterial Diversity in the Different Ecological Niches Related to the Yonghwasil Pond (Republic of Korea)

Abstract

The bacteriome profile was studied in freshwater ecosystems within the Yonghwasil pond, situated at the National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, central western Korea. Six samples from water, mud, and soil niches were assessed, specifically from lake water, bottom mud (sediment), and root-soil samples of Bulrush, wild rice, Reed, and Korean Willow. Notably, the phylum Actinobacteria exhibited an upward trend moving from water to mud to soil samples, whereas Chloroflexi showed a contrasting decrease. Across the board, Proteobacteria emerged as the reigning phylum, and subsequent dominance was attributed to Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. The water samples were characterized by an enriched presence of Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes, whereas the mud samples distinctly housed a higher concentration of Chloroflexi. Assessing biodiversity through OTU and ACE indices revealed a subdued species richness in the water samples. On the contrary, mud samples stood out with the highest OTU and ACE metrics, signifying a microbially diverse habitat. Bulrush, wild rice, Reed, and Willow samples showed intermediate microbial diversity. The Shannon index further corroborated the pronounced microbial diversity in mud and Bulrush habitats with others. This research elucidates the microbial intricacies across different habitats within Yonghwasil Pond, emphasizing the pivotal role of environmental matrices in shaping bacterial communities.

Keywords: National Institute of Ecology; Yonghwasil pond; bacterial diversity; freshwater ecosystems.

Figure 1

A map showing the geographic location of the National Institute of Ecology, which is located in Seocheon, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea.

Figure 2

Phylum-level bacterial relative abundance. The bar chart represents the relative abundance of different bacterial phyla identified in the samples. The accompanying legend indicates that each color corresponds to a distinct bacterial phylum. The samples include water (L1-W), mud (L1-M), and rhizosphere soils from four dominant vegetation types: Bulrush (L1-T), wild rice (L1-Z), Reed (L1-R), and Korean Willow (L1-B).

Figure 3

Genus-level bacterial relative abundance. The bar chart illustrates the relative abundance of bacterial genera across the collected samples. The analyzed samples are water (L1-W), mud (L1-M), and rhizosphere soils from Bulrush (L1-T), wild rice (L1-Z), Reed (L1-R), and Korean Willow (L1-B). Each color represents a distinct bacterial genus.

Figure 4

PCoA plot showing microbial community structures across different sample types. Clustering patterns reflect variations among water (L1-W), mud (L1-M), and rhizosphere soil samples from Bulrush (L1-T), wild rice (L1-Z), Reed (L1-R), and Korean Willow (L1-B). Arrows indicate environmental variables influencing microbial distribution.

Figure 5

Venn diagram of soil microbiome across different sample groups. The Venn diagram illustrates the shared and unique bacterial genera across water (L1-W), mud (L1-M), and rhizosphere soil samples from Bulrush (L1-T), wild rice (L1-Z), Reed (L1-R), and Korean Willow (L1-B). Overlapping regions represent genera common to multiple sample types, while non-overlapping sections highlight unique bacterial genera specific to each sample type.