Bacterial composition and spatiotemporal variation in sediments of Jiaozhou Bay, China

Abstract

Purpose: Although coastal marine sediments harbor diverse bacteria with important ecological and environmental functions, a comprehensive view of their community characteristics is still lacking in typical environments along the China coast. We studied the diversity and composition of bacterial community in the sediment of Jiaozhou Bay and characterized their spatiotemporal patterns, aiming to analyze the effects of geographic heterogeneity, seasonal difference, anthropogenic activity, and eutrophication gradient on the bacterial ecology. Materials and methods: Sixteen full-length bacterial 16S rRNA gene clone libraries were constructed from the sediment bacteria at four stations (A5, B2, D1..