scholarly journals The quality of dissolved organic matter shapes the biogeography of the active bathypelagic microbiome

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Sebastian ◽  
Pablo Sanchez ◽  
Guillem Salazar ◽  
Xose A Alvarez-Salgado ◽  
Isabel Reche ◽  
...  

The bathypelagic ocean (1000-4000 m depth) is the largest aquatic biome on Earth but it is still largely unexplored. Due to its prevalent low dissolved organic carbon concentrations, most of the prokaryotic metabolic activity is assumed to be associated to particles. The role of free-living prokaryotes has thus been mostly ignored, except that of some chemolithoautotrophic lineages. Here we used a global bathypelagic survey of size-fractionated metagenomic and 16S (genes and transcripts) data and performed a differential abundance analysis to explore the functional traits of the different prokaryotic life-strategies, their contribution to the active microbiome, and the role that the quality of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays in driving this contribution. We found that free-living prokaryotes have limited capacity to uplift their metabolism in response to environmental changes and display comparatively lower growth rates than particle associated prokaryotes, but are responsible for the synthesis of vitamins in the bathypelagic. Furthermore, their contribution to the active prokaryotic microbiome increased towards waters depleted of labile DOM, which represented a large fraction of the tropical and subtropical ocean sampled stations. This points to a relevant yet overlooked role of free-living prokaryotes in DOM cycling in the vast bathypelagic desert.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brice K. Grunert ◽  
Maria Tzortziou ◽  
Patrick Neale ◽  
Alana Menendez ◽  
Peter Hernes

AbstractThe Arctic is experiencing rapid warming, resulting in fundamental shifts in hydrologic connectivity and carbon cycling. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a significant component of the Arctic and global carbon cycle, and significant perturbations to DOM cycling are expected with Arctic warming. The impact of photochemical and microbial degradation, and their interactive effects, on DOM composition and remineralization have been documented in Arctic soils and rivers. However, the role of microbes, sunlight and their interactions on Arctic DOM alteration and remineralization in the coastal ocean has not been considered, particularly during the spring freshet when DOM loads are high, photoexposure can be quite limited and residence time within river networks is low. Here, we collected DOM samples along a salinity gradient in the Yukon River delta, plume and coastal ocean during peak river discharge immediately after spring freshet and explored the role of UV exposure, microbial transformations and interactive effects on DOM quantity and composition. Our results show: (1) photochemical alteration of DOM significantly shifts processing pathways of terrestrial DOM, including increasing relative humification of DOM by microbes by > 10%; (2) microbes produce humic-like material that is not optically distinguishable from terrestrial humics; and (3) size-fractionation of the microbial community indicates a size-dependent role for DOM remineralization and humification of DOM observed through modeled PARAFAC components of fluorescent DOM, either through direct or community effects. Field observations indicate apparent conservative mixing along the salinity gradient; however, changing photochemical and microbial alteration of DOM with increasing salinity indicate changing DOM composition likely due to microbial activity. Finally, our findings show potential for rapid transformation of DOM in the coastal ocean from photochemical and microbial alteration, with microbes responsible for the majority of dissolved organic matter remineralization.


2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (10) ◽  
pp. 1606-1615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kainz ◽  
Marc Lucotte ◽  
Christopher C Parrish

Pathways of methyl mercury (MeHg) accumulation in zooplankton include ingestion of organic matter (OM). We analyzed fatty acid (FA) biomarkers in zooplankton to (i) investigate the effect of allochthonous and autochthonous OM ingestion on MeHg concentrations ([MeHg]) in zooplankton and (ii) examine how algal and bacterial food sources affect MeHg bioaccumulation. We partitioned bulk zooplankton samples (i.e., >500, 202, 100, and 53 μm) from Lake Lusignan (Québec) and measured [MeHg] and [FA] in each fraction. [MeHg] increased with increasing body size and was significantly higher in pelagic than in littoral macrozooplankton (>500 μm). The amount of the ingested terrestrial FA biomarker 24:0 indicated that less than 1% of the total FA in zooplankton was derived from allochthonous sources. More than 60% of the ingested FA originated from algal biomarkers and <10% from bacterial biomarkers. Relative amounts of algal-derived essential FA and bacterial FA were not associated with [MeHg] in any size fraction. In pelagic zones, the amount of MeHg in zooplankton related positively to the number of large organisms such as Calanoid copepods and Daphnia. We propose that the accumulation of MeHg in lacustrine zooplankton depends on the zooplankton habitat rather than on the quality of ingested food.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 968
Author(s):  
Hossein Masigol ◽  
Jason Nicholas Woodhouse ◽  
Pieter van West ◽  
Reza Mostowfizadeh-Ghalamfarsa ◽  
Keilor Rojas-Jimenez ◽  
...  

The contribution of fungi to the degradation of plant litter and transformation of dissolved organic matter (humic substances, in particular) in freshwater ecosystems has received increasing attention recently. However, the role of Saprolegniales as one of the most common eukaryotic organisms is rarely studied. In this study, we isolated and phylogenetically placed 51 fungal and 62 Saprolegniales strains from 12 German lakes. We studied the cellulo-, lignino-, and chitinolytic activity of the strains using plate assays. Furthermore, we determined the capacity of 10 selected strains to utilize 95 different labile compounds, using Biolog FF MicroPlates™. Finally, the ability of three selected strains to utilize maltose and degrade/produce humic substances was measured. Cladosporium and Penicillium were amongst the most prevalent fungal strains, while Saprolegnia, Achlya, and Leptolegnia were the most frequent Saprolegniales strains. Although the isolated strains assigned to genera were phylogenetically similar, their enzymatic activity and physiological profiling were quite diverse. Our results indicate that Saprolegniales, in contrast to fungi, lack ligninolytic activity and are not involved in the production/transformation of humic substances. We hypothesize that Saprolegniales and fungi might have complementary roles in interacting with dissolved organic matter, which has ecological implications for carbon cycling in freshwater ecosystems.


2017 ◽  
Vol 208 ◽  
pp. 171-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek C. Waggoner ◽  
Andrew S. Wozniak ◽  
Rose M. Cory ◽  
Patrick G. Hatcher

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