Characterizing Nitrogen and Aquatic Microbial Communities Across Montana

Abstract

As water is becoming an extremely scarce and precious resource, it is integral to understand the relationship between Montana’s water resources and the effects of nitrogen on water quality. This experiment aims to characterize the relationship between microbial communities and nitrogen levels in natural and man-made water bodies across Central and NorthWest Montana. We expect the higher levels of nitrogen to correlate to more harmful bacteria in the water and for there to be more nitrogen in man-made bodies of water than in natural bodies of water. Water samples were collected during March and October 2022 from eight locations for chemical analysis, and sediment samples were also collected in October for microbial analysis. Genomic DNA was extracted from the sediment samples, followed by PCR amplification of the 16S gene and Nanopore sequencing to determine the relative composition of bacterial groups in each sampling location. Nitrate and nitrite levels were determined by Energy Labs (Helena, Montana) and correlated with bacterial community composition. Here we present findings on patterns of microbial communities across Montana water sources in relation to nitrogen levels to address the increased concerns regarding the quality of our water sources.