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C78 - Impact of Dissolved Organic Matter Additions on Lake Microbial Communities
Terrestrial runoff into aquatic environments is contributing largely to the growth of harmful algal bacteria and reshaping the microbial communities found in those environments.
C78 - Impact of Dissolved Organic Matter Additions on Lake Microbial Communities
Mentor: Matthew Saxton, Ph.D.
Terrestrial runoff into aquatic environments is contributing largely to the growth of harmful algal bacteria and reshaping the microbial communities found in those environments. In this study, we investigated the impact of terrestrially derived Dissolved Organic Matter (tDOM) on bacterial communities in Ohio lakes impacted by harmful algal blooms. To do this, water samples from Lake Erie embayments (Maumee Bay and Sandusky Bay) and Grand Lake St.Mary were amended with the model DOM compound Superhume. We analyzed the samples using 16s rRNA gene sequencing to get the microbial community structures. We found that the unique communities in each lake impact the affect that DOM additions have on the environments and microbe communities. In future experiments, we will continue to test DOM affects on microbial communities.