Seawater carbonate chemistry and microbial polysaccharide degradation during experiments with phytoplankton Emiliania huxleyi (strain PML B92/11) and natural bacteria community, 2010, supplement to: Piontek, Judith; Lunau, Mirko; Händel, Nicole; Borchard, Corinna; Wurst, Mascha; Engel, Anja (2010): Acidification increases microbial polysaccharide degradation in the ocean. Biogeosciences, 7(5), 1615-1625

• Main Authors: Piontek, Judith, Lunau, Mirko, Händel, Nicole, Borchard, Corinna, Wurst, Mascha, Engel, Anja
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2010
• Subjects: Experimental treatment; Sample ID; LightDark cycle; Radiation, photosynthetically active; Time, incubation; Temperature, water; pH; Bacteria; Bacteria, abundance, standard deviation; Carbon, organic, particulate; Carbon, organic, particulate, standard deviation; Combined glucose loss; Combined glucose loss, standard deviation; Polysacchrides loss; Polysacchrides loss, standard deviation; Particulate organic carbon loss; Particulate organic carbon loss, standard deviation; Cell-specific glucosidase activity; Cell-specific glucosidase activity, standard deviation; alpha-glucosidase activity per cell; beta-glucosidase activity per cell; Measured; WTW 340i pH-analyzer and WTW SenTix 81-electrode; FACSCalibur flow-cytometer Becton Dicinson; Element analyser CNS, EURO EA; High Performance anion-exchange chromatography; see references; European Project on Ocean Acidification EPOCA; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.775815; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.775815

With the accumulation of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2), a proceeding decline in seawater pH has been induced that is referred to as ocean acidification. The ocean's capacity for CO2 storage is strongly affected by biological processes, whose feedback potential is difficult to evaluate. The main source of CO2 in the ocean is the decomposition and subsequent respiration of organic molecules by heterotrophic bacteria. However, very little is known about potential effects of ocean acidification on bacterial degradation activity. This study reveals that the degradation of polysaccharides, a major component of marine organic matter, by bacterial extracellular enzymes was significantly accelerated during experimental simulation of ocean acidification. Results were obtained from pH perturbation experiments, where rates of extracellular alpha- and beta-glucosidase were measured and the loss of neutral and acidic sugars from phytoplankton-derived polysaccharides was determined. Our study suggests that a faster bacterial turnover of polysaccharides at lowered ocean pH has the potential to reduce carbon export and to enhance the respiratory CO2 production in the future ocean.