Phytoplankton Surveys in the Arctic Fram Strait Demonstrate the Tiny Eukaryotic Alga Micromonas and Other Picoprasinophytes Contribute to Deep Sea Export
Critical questions exist regarding the abundance and, especially, the export of picophytoplankton (≤2 µm diameter) in the Arctic. These organisms can dominate chlorophyll concentrations in Arctic regions, which are subject to rapid change. The picoeukaryotic prasinophyte Micromonas grows in polar en...
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MDPI AG
2022
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:12292daad38845a1a13e03967aa4c336 2023-05-15T14:56:56+02:00 Phytoplankton Surveys in the Arctic Fram Strait Demonstrate the Tiny Eukaryotic Alga Micromonas and Other Picoprasinophytes Contribute to Deep Sea Export Charles Bachy Lisa Sudek Change Jae Choi Charlotte A. Eckmann Eva-Maria Nöthig Katja Metfies Alexandra Z. Worden 2022-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10050961 https://doaj.org/article/12292daad38845a1a13e03967aa4c336 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/5/961 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2607 doi:10.3390/microorganisms10050961 2076-2607 https://doaj.org/article/12292daad38845a1a13e03967aa4c336 Microorganisms, Vol 10, Iss 961, p 961 (2022) green algae phytoplankton qPCR sedimentation carbon flux Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10050961 2022-12-31T02:32:27Z Critical questions exist regarding the abundance and, especially, the export of picophytoplankton (≤2 µm diameter) in the Arctic. These organisms can dominate chlorophyll concentrations in Arctic regions, which are subject to rapid change. The picoeukaryotic prasinophyte Micromonas grows in polar environments and appears to constitute a large, but variable, proportion of the phytoplankton in these waters. Here, we analyze 81 samples from the upper 100 m of the water column from the Fram Strait collected over multiple years (2009–2015). We also analyze sediment trap samples to examine picophytoplankton contributions to export, using both 18S rRNA gene qPCR and V1-V2 16S rRNA Illumina amplicon sequencing to assess the Micromonas abundance within the broader diversity of photosynthetic eukaryotes based on the phylogenetic placement of plastid-derived 16S amplicons. The material sequenced from the sediment traps in July and September 2010 showed that 11.2 ± 12.4% of plastid-derived amplicons are from picoplanktonic prasinophyte algae and other green lineage (Viridiplantae) members. In the traps, Micromonas dominated (83.6 ± 21.3%) in terms of the overall relative abundance of Viridiplantae amplicons, specifically the species Micromonas polaris . Temporal variations in Micromonas abundances quantified by qPCR were also observed, with higher abundances in the late-July traps and deeper traps. In the photic zone samples, four prasinophyte classes were detected in the amplicon data, with Micromonas again being the dominant prasinophyte, based on the relative abundance (89.4 ± 8.0%), but with two species ( M. polaris and M. commoda -like) present. The quantitative PCR assessments showed that the photic zone samples with higher Micromonas abundances (>1000 gene copies per mL) had significantly lower standing stocks of phosphate and nitrate, and a shallower average depth (20 m) than those with fewer Micromonas . This study shows that despite their size, prasinophyte picophytoplankton are exported to the deep sea, and ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fram Strait Phytoplankton Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Microorganisms 10 5 961 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
green algae phytoplankton qPCR sedimentation carbon flux Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
green algae phytoplankton qPCR sedimentation carbon flux Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Charles Bachy Lisa Sudek Change Jae Choi Charlotte A. Eckmann Eva-Maria Nöthig Katja Metfies Alexandra Z. Worden Phytoplankton Surveys in the Arctic Fram Strait Demonstrate the Tiny Eukaryotic Alga Micromonas and Other Picoprasinophytes Contribute to Deep Sea Export |
topic_facet |
green algae phytoplankton qPCR sedimentation carbon flux Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
Critical questions exist regarding the abundance and, especially, the export of picophytoplankton (≤2 µm diameter) in the Arctic. These organisms can dominate chlorophyll concentrations in Arctic regions, which are subject to rapid change. The picoeukaryotic prasinophyte Micromonas grows in polar environments and appears to constitute a large, but variable, proportion of the phytoplankton in these waters. Here, we analyze 81 samples from the upper 100 m of the water column from the Fram Strait collected over multiple years (2009–2015). We also analyze sediment trap samples to examine picophytoplankton contributions to export, using both 18S rRNA gene qPCR and V1-V2 16S rRNA Illumina amplicon sequencing to assess the Micromonas abundance within the broader diversity of photosynthetic eukaryotes based on the phylogenetic placement of plastid-derived 16S amplicons. The material sequenced from the sediment traps in July and September 2010 showed that 11.2 ± 12.4% of plastid-derived amplicons are from picoplanktonic prasinophyte algae and other green lineage (Viridiplantae) members. In the traps, Micromonas dominated (83.6 ± 21.3%) in terms of the overall relative abundance of Viridiplantae amplicons, specifically the species Micromonas polaris . Temporal variations in Micromonas abundances quantified by qPCR were also observed, with higher abundances in the late-July traps and deeper traps. In the photic zone samples, four prasinophyte classes were detected in the amplicon data, with Micromonas again being the dominant prasinophyte, based on the relative abundance (89.4 ± 8.0%), but with two species ( M. polaris and M. commoda -like) present. The quantitative PCR assessments showed that the photic zone samples with higher Micromonas abundances (>1000 gene copies per mL) had significantly lower standing stocks of phosphate and nitrate, and a shallower average depth (20 m) than those with fewer Micromonas . This study shows that despite their size, prasinophyte picophytoplankton are exported to the deep sea, and ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Charles Bachy Lisa Sudek Change Jae Choi Charlotte A. Eckmann Eva-Maria Nöthig Katja Metfies Alexandra Z. Worden |
author_facet |
Charles Bachy Lisa Sudek Change Jae Choi Charlotte A. Eckmann Eva-Maria Nöthig Katja Metfies Alexandra Z. Worden |
author_sort |
Charles Bachy |
title |
Phytoplankton Surveys in the Arctic Fram Strait Demonstrate the Tiny Eukaryotic Alga Micromonas and Other Picoprasinophytes Contribute to Deep Sea Export |
title_short |
Phytoplankton Surveys in the Arctic Fram Strait Demonstrate the Tiny Eukaryotic Alga Micromonas and Other Picoprasinophytes Contribute to Deep Sea Export |
title_full |
Phytoplankton Surveys in the Arctic Fram Strait Demonstrate the Tiny Eukaryotic Alga Micromonas and Other Picoprasinophytes Contribute to Deep Sea Export |
title_fullStr |
Phytoplankton Surveys in the Arctic Fram Strait Demonstrate the Tiny Eukaryotic Alga Micromonas and Other Picoprasinophytes Contribute to Deep Sea Export |
title_full_unstemmed |
Phytoplankton Surveys in the Arctic Fram Strait Demonstrate the Tiny Eukaryotic Alga Micromonas and Other Picoprasinophytes Contribute to Deep Sea Export |
title_sort |
phytoplankton surveys in the arctic fram strait demonstrate the tiny eukaryotic alga micromonas and other picoprasinophytes contribute to deep sea export |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10050961 https://doaj.org/article/12292daad38845a1a13e03967aa4c336 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Fram Strait Phytoplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fram Strait Phytoplankton |
op_source |
Microorganisms, Vol 10, Iss 961, p 961 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/5/961 https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2607 doi:10.3390/microorganisms10050961 2076-2607 https://doaj.org/article/12292daad38845a1a13e03967aa4c336 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10050961 |
container_title |
Microorganisms |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
961 |
_version_ |
1766328992462274560 |