Exploring the Microdiversity Within Marine Bacterial Taxa: Toward an Integrated Biogeography in the Southern Ocean

Most of the microbial biogeographic patterns in the oceans have been depicted at the whole community level, leaving out finer taxonomic resolution (i.e., microdiversity) that is crucial to conduct intra-population phylogeographic study, as commonly done for macroorganisms. Here, we present a new approach to unravel the bacterial phylogeographic patterns combining community-wide survey by 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding and intra-species resolution through the oligotyping method, allowing robust estimations of genetic and phylogeographic indices, and migration parameters. As a proof-of-concept, we focused on the bacterial genus <i>Spirochaeta</i> across three distant biogeographic provinces of the Southern Ocean; maritime Antarctica, sub-Antarctic Islands, and Patagonia. Each targeted <i>Spirochaeta</i> operational taxonomic units were characterized by a substantial intrapopulation microdiversity, and significant genetic differentiation and phylogeographic structure among the three provinces. Gene flow estimations among <i>Spirochaeta</i> populations support the role of the Antarctic Polar Front as a biogeographic barrier to bacterial dispersal between Antarctic and sub-Antarctic provinces. Conversely, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current appears as the main driver of gene flow, connecting sub-Antarctic Islands with Patagonia and maritime Antarctica. Additionally, historical processes (drift and dispersal limitation) govern up to 86% of the spatial turnover among <i>Spirochaeta</i> populations. Overall, our approach bridges the gap between microbial and macrobial ecology by revealing strong congruency with macroorganisms distribution patterns at the populational level, shaped by the same oceanographic structures and ecological processes.