1. |
- Bunse, Carina, et al.
(author)
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Response of marine bacterioplankton pH homeostasis gene expression to elevated CO2
- 2016
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In: Nature Climate Change. - : Macmillan Publishers Ltd.. - 1758-678X .- 1758-6798. ; 6:5, s. 483-487
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Human-induced ocean acidification impacts marine life. Marine bacteria are major drivers of biogeochemical nutrient cycles and energy fluxes1; hence, understanding their performance under projected climate change scenarios is crucial for assessing ecosystem functioning. Whereas genetic and physiological responses of phytoplankton to ocean acidification are being disentangled2, 3, 4, corresponding functional responses of bacterioplankton to pH reduction from elevated CO2 are essentially unknown. Here we show, from metatranscriptome analyses of a phytoplankton bloom mesocosm experiment, that marine bacteria responded to lowered pH by enhancing the expression of genes encoding proton pumps, such as respiration complexes, proteorhodopsin and membrane transporters. Moreover, taxonomic transcript analysis showed that distinct bacterial groups expressed different pH homeostasis genes in response to elevated CO2. These responses were substantial for numerous pH homeostasis genes under low-chlorophyll conditions (chlorophyll a <2.5 μg l−1); however, the changes in gene expression under high-chlorophyll conditions (chlorophyll a >20 μg l−1) were low. Given that proton expulsion through pH homeostasis mechanisms is energetically costly, these findings suggest that bacterioplankton adaptation to ocean acidification could have long-term effects on the economy of ocean ecosystems.
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2. |
- Villarino, Ernesto, et al.
(author)
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Large-scale ocean connectivity and planktonic body size
- 2018
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Global patterns of planktonic diversity are mainly determined by the dispersal of propagules with ocean currents. However, the role that abundance and body size play in determining spatial patterns of diversity remains unclear. Here we analyse spatial community structure - beta-diversity - for several planktonic and nektonic organisms from prokaryotes to small mesopelagic fishes collected during the Malaspina 2010 Expedition. beta-diversity was compared to surface ocean transit times derived from a global circulation model, revealing a significant negative relationship that is stronger than environmental differences. Estimated dispersal scales for different groups show a negative correlation with body size, where less abundant large-bodied communities have significantly shorter dispersal scales and larger species spatial turnover rates than more abundant small-bodied plankton. Our results confirm that the dispersal scale of planktonic and micro-nektonic organisms is determined by local abundance, which scales with body size, ultimately setting global spatial patterns of diversity.
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3. |
- Alonso-Saez, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Factors controlling the year-round variability in carbon flux through bacteria in a coastal marine system
- 2008
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In: Ecosystems (New York. Print). - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-9840 .- 1435-0629. ; 11:3, s. 397-409
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Data from several years of monthly samplings are combined with a 1-year detailed study of carbon flux through bacteria at a NW Mediterranean coastal site to delineate the bacterial role in carbon use and to assess whether environmental factors or bacterial assemblage composition affected the in situ rates of bacterial carbon processing. Leucine (Leu) uptake rates [as an estimate of bacterial heterotrophic production (BHP)] showed high interannual variability but, on average, lower values were found in winter (around 50 pM Leu(-1) h(-1)) as compared to summer (around 150 pM Leu(-1) h(-1)). Leu-to-carbon conversion factors ranged from 0.9 to 3.6 kgC mol Leu(-1), with generally higher values in winter. Leu uptake was only weakly correlated to temperature, and over a full-year cycle (in 2003), Leu uptake peaked concomitantly with winter chlorophyll a (Chl a) maxima, and in periods of high ectoenzyme activities in spring and summer. This suggests that both low molecular weight dissolved organic matter (DOM) released by phytoplankton, and high molecular weight DOM in periods of low Chl a, can enhance BHP. Bacterial respiration (BR, range 7-48 mu g C l(-1) d(-1)) was not correlated to BHP or temperature, but was significantly correlated to DOC concentration. Total bacterial carbon demand (BHP plus BR) was only met by dissolved organic carbon produced by phytoplankton during the winter period. We measured bacterial growth efficiencies by the short-term and the long-term methods and they ranged from 3 to 42%, increasing during the phytoplankton blooms in winter (during the Chl a peaks), and in spring. Changes in bacterioplankton assemblage structure (as depicted by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting) were not coupled to changes in ecosystem functioning, at least in bacterial carbon use.
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4. |
- Baltar, Federico, et al.
(author)
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High dissolved extracellular enzymatic activity in the deep Central Atlantic Ocean
- 2010
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In: Aquatic Microbial Ecology. - : Inter-Research Science Center. - 0948-3055 .- 1616-1564. ; 58:3, s. 287-302
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The distribution of prokaryotic abundance (PA), prokaryotic heterotrophic production (PHP), and suspended particulate organic material (POM), as well as total and dissolved (operationally defined as passing through 0.2 mu m pore size filters) potential extracellular enzymatic activities (EEA; alpha- and beta-glucosidase [AGase and BGase], leucine aminopeptidase [LAPase], and alkaline phosphatase [APase]) were determined in the meso- and bathypelagic waters of the (sub)tropical Atlantic along an eastern zonal transatlantic transect and a western N-S transect. Significant differences between both transects were found for POM concentration but not for PA, PHP (except in the subsurface and oxygen minimum layer), and dissolved and total EEA. PHP decreased by 3 orders of magnitude from the lower euphotic zone to bathypelagic waters, while PA and cell-specific PHP decreased only by 1 and 2 orders of magnitude, respectively. The proportion of the dissolved to the total EEA was high in the dark ocean for all the enzymes, ranging from 54 to 100, 56 to 100, 65 to 100 and 57 to 97 % for AGase, BGase, LAPase and APase, respectively. The kinetic parameters (V-max, and K-m) of both the dissolved and total fractions of LAPase and APase were very similar throughout the water column, suggesting a similar origin for both dissolved and particulate EEA. Significant correlations of both dissolved and total EEA were found with prokaryotic metabolism and the POM pool. Based on the previous notion that the fraction of dissolved EEA is higher in particle-attached than in free-living microbes, our results suggest that microbial activity in the dark ocean occurs mainly on colloidal and particulate material. This is in agreement with recent genomic evidence. However, these colloidal and particulate materials are prone to disruption during the sampling process. Hence, more selective sampling techniques are needed to specifically collect these deep-water aggregates that probably represent hotspots of microbial activity in the deep ocean.
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5. |
- Baltar, Federico, et al.
(author)
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Prokaryotic extracellular enzymatic activity in relation to biomass production and respiration in the meso- and bathypelagic waters of the (sub)tropical Atlantic
- 2009
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In: Environmental Microbiology. - : Wiley. - 1462-2912 .- 1462-2920. ; 11:8, s. 1998-2014
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- P>Prokaryotic extracellular enzymatic activity, abundance, heterotrophic production and respiration were determined in the meso- and bathypelagic (sub)tropical North Atlantic. While prokaryotic heterotrophic production (PHP) decreased from the lower euphotic layer to the bathypelagic waters by two orders of magnitude, prokaryotic abundance and cell-specific PHP decreased only by one order of magnitude. In contrast to cell-specific PHP, cell-specific extracellular enzymatic activity (alpha- and beta-glucosidase, leucine aminopeptidase, alkaline phosphatase) increased with depth as did cell-specific respiration rates. Cell-specific alkaline phosphatase activity increased from the intermediate water masses to the deep waters up to fivefold. Phosphate concentrations, however, varied only by a factor of two between the different water masses, indicating that phosphatase activity is not related to phosphate availability in the deep waters. Generally, cell-specific extracellular enzymatic activities were inversely related to cell-specific prokaryotic leucine incorporation. Thus, it is apparent that the utilization of deep ocean organic matter is linked to higher cell-specific extracellular enzymatic activity and respiration and lower cell-specific PHP than in surface waters.
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6. |
- Gasol, Josep M., et al.
(author)
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Mesopelagic prokaryotic bulk and single-cell heterotrophic activity and community composition in the NW Africa-Canary Islands coastal-transition zone
- 2009
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In: Progress in Oceanography. - : Elsevier BV. - 0079-6611 .- 1873-4472. ; 83, s. 189-196
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mesopelagic prokaryotic communities have often been assumed to be relatively inactive in comparison to those from epipelagic waters, and therefore unresponsive to the presence of nearby upwelled waters. We have studied the zonal (shelf-ocean), latitudinal, and depth (epipelagic-mesopelagic) variability of microbial assemblages in the NW Africa-Canary Islands coastal-transition zone (CTZ). Vertical profiles of bacterial bulk and single-cell activity through the epi- and mesopelagic waters were combined with point measurements of bacterial respiration, leucine-to-carbon conversion factors and leucine-to-thymidine incorporation ratios. The overall picture that emerges from our study is that prokaryotes in the mesopelagic zone of this area are less abundant than in the epipelagic but have comparable levels of activity. The relationship between prokaryotes and heterotrophic nanoflagellates, their main predators, remains constant throughout the water column, further contradicting the assumption that deep ocean bacterial communities are mostly inactive. Both bulk and single-cell activity showed clear differences between stations, with higher mesopelagic activities closer to the shelf or affected by upwelling features. We also tested whether differences in microbial function between stations could be related to differences in bacterial community structure, and conclude that bacterial communities are very similar at similar depths in the deep ocean, even if the stations present order-of-magnitude differences in bacterial function.
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7. |
- Morán, Xosé Anxelu G., et al.
(author)
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Temperature regulation of marine heterotrophic prokaryotes increases latitudinally as a breach between bottom-up and top-down controls
- 2017
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 23:9, s. 3956-3964
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Planktonic heterotrophic prokaryotes make up the largest living biomass and process most organic matter in the ocean. Determining when and where the biomass and activity of heterotrophic prokaryotes are controlled by resource availability (bottom-up), predation and viral lysis (top-down) or temperature will help in future carbon cycling predictions. We conducted an extensive survey across subtropical and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans during the Malaspina 2010 Global Circumnavigation Expedition and assessed indices for these three types of controls at 109 stations (mostly from the surface to 4,000 m depth). Temperature control was approached by the apparent activation energy in eV (ranging from 0.46 to 3.41), bottom-up control by the slope of the log-log relationship between biomass and production rate (ranging from -0.12 to 1.09) and top-down control by an index that considers the relative abundances of heterotrophic nanoflagellates and viruses (ranging from 0.82 to 4.83). We conclude that temperature becomes dominant (i.e. activation energy >1.5 eV) within a narrow window of intermediate values of bottom-up (0.3-0.6) and top-down 0.8-1.2) controls. A pervasive latitudinal pattern of decreasing temperature regulation towards the Equator, regardless of the oceanic basin, suggests that the impact of global warming on marine microbes and their biogeochemical function will be more intense at higher latitudes. Our analysis predicts that 1 degrees C ocean warming will result in increased biomass of heterotrophic prokaryoplankton only in waters with <26 degrees C of mean annual surface temperature.
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8. |
- Sarmento, Hugo, et al.
(author)
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Phytoplankton species-specific release of dissolved free amino acids and their selective consumption by bacteria
- 2013
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In: Limnology and Oceanography. - : Wiley. - 0024-3590 .- 1939-5590. ; 58:3, s. 1123-1135
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite representing only a small fraction of the ocean's dissolved organic matter pool, dissolved free amino acids (DFAA) have high turnover rates and are major nitrogen and carbon sources for bacterioplankton. Both phytoplankton and bacterioplankton assimilate and release DFAA, but their consumption and production are difficult to quantify in nature due to their short residence times (min) as dissolved monomers. We segregated DFAA production by phytoplankton and bacterial consumption by measuring individual DFAA concentrations in four axenic phytoplankton cultures during the exponential growth phase, and also after 4 d incubations in the presence of a natural bacterioplankton community. The amounts and composition of the DFAA pool varied widely among phytoplankton species. The proportion of dissolved organic carbon attributed to DFAA varied among cultures. The picoeukaryotic prasinophyte, Micromonas pusilla, released higher amounts of DFAA than the other species tested (diatoms and dinoflagellate), especially alanine, which has been reported as the dominant individual DFAA in some oligotrophic environments. Community structure of heterotrophic prokaryotes responded to differences in the quality of organic matter released among microalgal species, with Roseobacter-related bacteria responding strongly to exudate composition. Our results demonstrate the specificity of DFAA extracellular release among several algal species and their preferential uptake by members of bacterial communities.
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9. |
- Alonso-Saez, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Leucine-to-carbon empirical conversion factor experiments: does bacterial community structure have an influence?
- 2010
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In: Environmental Microbiology. - : Wiley. - 1462-2912 .- 1462-2920. ; 12:11, s. 2988-2997
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The suitability of applying empirical conversion factors (eCFs) to determine bacterial biomass production remains unclear because seawater cultures are usually overtaken by phylotypes that are not abundant in situ. While eCFs vary across environments, it has not been tested whether differences in eCFs are driven by changes in bacterial community composition or by in situ environmental conditions. We carried out seawater cultures throughout a year to analyse the correlation between eCFs and bacterial community structure, analysed by catalysed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization. Gammaproteobacteria usually dominated seawater cultures, but their abundance exhibited a wide range (25–73% of cell counts) and significantly increased with inorganic nutrient enrichment. Flavobacteria were less abundant but increased up to 40% of cells counts in winter seawater cultures, when in situ chlorophyll a was high. The correlations between eCFs and the abundance of the main broad phylogenetic groups (Gamma-, Alphaproteobacteria and Flavobacteria) were significant, albeit weak, while more specific groups (Alteromonadaceae and Rhodobacteraceae) were not significantly correlated. Our results show that the frequent development of the fast-growing group Alteromonadaceae in seawater cultures does not strongly drive the observed variations in eCFs. Rather, the results imply that environmental conditions and the growth of specific phylotypes interact to determine eCFs.
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10. |
- Aparicio, Fran L., et al.
(author)
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Eutrophication and acidification : Do they induce changes in the dissolved organic matter dynamics in the coastal Mediterranean Sea?
- 2016
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In: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 563, s. 179-189
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Two mesocosms experiments were conducted in winter 2010 and summer 2011 to examine how increased pCO(2) and/or nutrient concentrations potentially perturbate dissolved organic matter dynamics in natural microbial assemblages. The fluorescence signals of protein-and humic-like compounds were used as a proxy for labile and non-labile material, respectively, while the evolution of bacterial populations, chlorophyll a (Chl a) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were used as a proxy for biological activity. For both seasons, the presence of elevated pCO(2) did not cause any significant change in the DOC dynamics (p-value < 0.05). The conditions that showed the greatest changes in prokaryote abundances and Chl a content were those amended with nutrients, regardless of the change in pH. The temporal evolution of fluorophores and optical indices revealed that the degree of humification of the organic molecules and their molecular weight changed significantly in the nutrient-amended treatment. The generation of protein-like compounds was paired to increases in the prokaryote abundance, being higher in the nutrient-amended tanks than in the control. Different patterns in the magnitude and direction of the generation of humic-like molecules suggested that these changes depended on initial microbial populations and the availability of extra nutrient inputs. Based on our results, it is expected that in the future projected coastal scenarios the eutrophication processes will favor the transformations of labile and recalcitrant carbon regardless of changes in pCO(2). (c) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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