采用三维激发-发射荧光光谱(3D-EEMs),结合平行因子分析(PARAFAC),研究了 2015年 12月至2020年 1月停靠上海洋山港和江苏省江阴港的 42艘入境船舶压载水中荧光溶解有机物(FDOM)的组成特征及其来源,并探讨了FDOM用于鉴别置换和未置换压载水的可行性.结果显示,船舶压载水中FDOM主要由 3种荧光组分组成:类色氨酸荧光组分C1,λex为 275 nm,λem为 332 nm;UVB类腐殖质组分C2,λex为 290和 315 nm,λem为 386 nm;UVA类腐殖质组分C3,λex为 250和 360 nm,λem为 446 nm.组分C1在船舶压载水FDOM中荧光强度百分比最高,其次为组分C3,组分C2最低.显著性分析显示,未置换压载水中组分C1显著高于置换压载水(p＜0.05)的,而组分C2和C3则无显著差异(p＞0.05).荧光指数分析表明,未置换压载水FDOM受陆源输入和微生物活动的共同影响,而置换压载水由于远离近岸,水体生物活动为其主要来源.未置换压载水中类腐殖质组分C2和C3显著相关(p＜0.01),而置换压载水中3种荧光组分间均存在显著相关性(p＜0.01),这也表明 2类压载水中FDOM的来源存在差异.主成分分析显示,结合荧光强度、荧光指数(FI)和盐度作为判定标准,置换和未置换压载水之间存在较为明显的差异.后续可结合加装时间及其他理化性质等因素,更准确地解析压载水性质和来源.

Accurate detecting bacterial communities in ballast water and sediments supports risk management. This study uses full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing to investigate the bacterial communities in ballast water and sediments, focusing on detecting pathogens. The results indicate that full-length sequencing more accurately reveals the species diversity. There is a significant difference (P < 0.05) in bacterial communities between ballast water and sediments, despite both being dominated by the Proteobacteria phylum. Thirty human and fish pathogens were identified by full-length sequencing, yet only five pathogens were detected from V3-V4 sequencing. Notably, emerging pathogens such as Citrobacter freundii and Nocardia nova are detected in samples, which are harmful to aquaculture and human health. Several opportunistic pathogens were also identified. In summary, this study provides important insights into the bacterial communities in ballast water and sediments, highlighting the need for strict management.

Ballast water and sediments can serve as prominent vectors for the widespread dispersal of pathogens between geographically distant areas. However, information regarding the diversity and distribution of the bacterial pathogens in ballast water and sediments is highly limited. In this study, using high-throughput sequencing and quantitative PCR, we investigated the composition and abundance of potential pathogens, and their associations with indicator microorganisms. We accordingly detected 48 potential bacterial pathogens in the assessed ballast water and sediments, among which there were significant differences in the compositions and abundances of pathogenic bacterial communities characterizing ballast water and sediments. Rhodococcus erythropolis, Bacteroides vulgatus, and Vibrio campbellii were identified as predominant pathogens in ballast water, whereas Pseudomonas stutzeri, Mycobacterium paragordonae, and Bacillus anthracis predominated in ballast sediments. Bacteroidetes, Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Escherichia coli were generally detected with median values of 8.54 x 10(3) 1.22 x 10(7) gene copies (GC)/100 mL and 1.16 x 10(7) 3.97 x 10(9) GC/100 g in ballast water and sediments, respectively. Notably, the concentrations of Shigella sp., Staphylococcus aureus, and V. alginolyticus were significantly higher in ballast sediments than in the water. In addition, our findings tend to confirm that the indicator species specified by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) might underestimate the pathogen risk in the ballast water and sediments, as these bacteria were unable to predict some potential pathogens assessed in this study. In summary, this study provides a comprehensive insight into the spectrum of the potential pathogens that transferred by ship ballast tanks and emphasizes the need for the implementation of IMO convention on ballast sediment management.

Ballast water is one of the main vectors for the spread of harmful organisms among geologically isolated waters. However, the successional processes of microbial functions and assembly processes in ballast water during the long-term shipping voyage remain unclear. In this study, the compositions, ecological functions, community assembly, and potential environmental drivers of bacteria and microeukaryotes were investigated in simulated ballast water microcosms for 120 days. The results showed that the diversity and compositions of the bacterial and microeukaryotic communities varied significantly in the initial 40 days (T0∼T40 samples) and then gradually converged. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria showed a distinct tendency to decrease (87.90%-41.44%), while that of Ascomycota exhibited an increasing trend (6.35%-62.12%). The functional groups also varied significantly over time and could be related to the variations of the microbial community. The chemoheterotrophy and aerobic chemoheterotrophy functional groups for bacteria decreased from 44.80% to 28.02% and from 43.77% to 25.39%, respectively. Additionally, co-occurrence network analysis showed that the structures of the bacterial community in T60∼T120 samples were more stable than those in T0∼T40 samples. Stochastic processes also significantly affected the community assembly of bacteria and microeukaryotes. pH played the most significant role in driving the structures and assembly processes of the bacterial and microeukaryotic communities. The results of this study could aid in the understanding of variations in the functions and ecological processes of bacterial and microeukaryotic communities in ballast water over time and provide a theoretical basis for its management.

船舶压载水直接促进了地理性隔离海域之间的水体交换,可作为潜在致病菌迁移扩散的媒介.本文以采集到的25艘入境船舶的压载水样品为研究对象,采用高通量测序技术对潜在致病菌群落组成和影响因素进行了初步解析.结果表明:变形菌(Proteobacteria)、拟杆菌(Bacteroidetes)和放线菌(Actinobacteria)为压载水中的优势菌门.船舶压载水中共检出36个潜在致病菌属和19个潜在致病菌种.痤疮丙酸杆菌(Cutibacterium acnes)、大肠埃希氏杆菌(Escherichia coli)和表皮葡萄球菌(Staphylococcus epidermidis)为压载水中最普遍的潜在致病菌,检出率超过50％.置换和未置换压载水中潜在致病菌的种类数量和丰度并无显著差异.此外,压载水中的潜在致病菌与磷酸盐及大肠埃希氏杆菌呈显著正相关性,表明其可能与近岸的人类活动有关.综上所述,相关部门应当对船舶压载水加强管理,以降低潜在致病菌的入侵扩散风险.

Various microorganisms are transported worldwide via the water and sediments inside ship ballast tanks. Nevertheless, the ecological functions and assembly processes of bacterial communities in ballast water and sediments remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the bacterial composition, community assembly processes, and putative functions through analyses of 70 ballast water and sediment samples obtained from various ships. The results showed that the ballast sediments contained a higher diversity of bacterial communities, whereas the ballast water was characterized by the dominance of Proteobacteria. Both the composition and potential function structures of bacterial communities were clearly different between the ballast water and sediment samples. The ballast water exhibited an abundance of microorganisms that involved in sulfur oxidation, whereas the bacterial species associated with nitrogen metabolism were abundant in the sediments. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that the communities in ballast sediment samples possessed more complex network structures with higher modularity and positive associations among bacterial populations. Stochastic processes, especially the dispersal limitation process played the most important influence in the assembly of the communities in ballast water. Meanwhile, the bacterial communities in the ballast sediments were primarily governed by the homogeneous selection of determinacy. The results from this study will help us understand the ecological processes related to the bacterial communities in the ballast tanks and provide a foundation for the management of ballast water and sediments.