Carbohydrates and carbohydrate degradation gene abundance and transcription in Atlantic waters of the Arctic ...

• Main Authors: Priest, Taylor, Vidal-Melgosa, Silvia, Hehemann, Jan-Hendrik, Amann, Rudolf, Fuchs, Bernhard M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Phytoplankton
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000649070; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/649070

Carbohydrates are chemically and structurally diverse, represent a substantial fraction of marine organic matter and are key substrates for heterotrophic microbes. Studies on carbohydrate utilisation by marine microbes have been centred on phytoplankton blooms in temperate regions, while far less is known from high-latitude waters and during later seasonal stages. Here, we combine glycan microarrays and analytical chromatography with metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to show the spatial heterogeneity in glycan distribution and potential carbohydrate utilisation by microbes in Atlantic waters of the Arctic. The composition and abundance of monomers and glycan structures in POM varied with location and depth. Complex fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides, known to accumulate in the ocean, were consistently detected, while the more labile beta-1,3-glucan exhibited a patchy distribution. Through 'omics analysis, we identify variations in the abundance and transcription of carbohydrate degradation-related ... : ISME Communications, 3 (1) ...