A Competitive Advantage of Middle-Sized Diatoms From Increasing Seawater CO2
Diatoms, one of the most important phytoplankton groups, fulfill their carbon demand from seawater mainly by obtaining passively diffused carbon dioxide (CO2) and/or actively consuming intracellular energy to acquire bicarbonate (HCO3–). An anthropogenically induced increase in seawater CO2 reduces...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2e15a066b5ff4eee8842c4391e06f395 2023-05-15T17:51:56+02:00 A Competitive Advantage of Middle-Sized Diatoms From Increasing Seawater CO2 Qi Zhang Ya-Wei Luo 2022-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.838629 https://doaj.org/article/2e15a066b5ff4eee8842c4391e06f395 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.838629/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.838629 https://doaj.org/article/2e15a066b5ff4eee8842c4391e06f395 Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 13 (2022) ocean acidification diatom CO2-concentrating mechanism growth rate response cell size eco-physiological modeling Microbiology QR1-502 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.838629 2022-12-31T02:56:35Z Diatoms, one of the most important phytoplankton groups, fulfill their carbon demand from seawater mainly by obtaining passively diffused carbon dioxide (CO2) and/or actively consuming intracellular energy to acquire bicarbonate (HCO3–). An anthropogenically induced increase in seawater CO2 reduces the HCO3– requirement of diatoms, potentially saving intracellular energy and benefitting their growth. This effect is commonly speculated to be most remarkable in larger diatoms that are subject to a stronger limitation of CO2 supply because of their smaller surface-to-volume ratios. However, we constructed a theoretical model for diatoms and revealed a unimodal relationship between the simulated growth rate response (GRR, the ratio of growth rates under elevated and ambient CO2) and cell size, with the GRR peaking at a cell diameter of ∼7 μm. The simulated GRR of the smallest diatoms was low because the CO2 supply was nearly sufficient at the ambient level, while the decline of GRR from a cell diameter of 7 μm was simulated because the contribution of seawater CO2 to the total carbon demand greatly decreased and diatoms became less sensitive to CO2 increase. A collection of historical data in CO2 enrichment experiments of diatoms also showed a roughly unimodal relationship between maximal GRR and cell size. Our model further revealed that the “optimal” cell size corresponding to peak GRR enlarged with the magnitude of CO2 increase but diminished with elevating cellular carbon demand, leading to projection of the smallest optimal cell size in the equatorial Pacific upwelling zone. Last, we need to emphasize that the size-dependent effects of increasing CO2 on diatoms are multifaceted, while our model only considers the inorganic carbon supply from seawater and optimal allocation of intracellular energy. Our study proposes a competitive advantage of middle-sized diatoms and can be useful in projecting changes in the diatom community in the future acidified high-CO2 ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pacific Frontiers in Microbiology 13 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
ocean acidification diatom CO2-concentrating mechanism growth rate response cell size eco-physiological modeling Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
ocean acidification diatom CO2-concentrating mechanism growth rate response cell size eco-physiological modeling Microbiology QR1-502 Qi Zhang Ya-Wei Luo A Competitive Advantage of Middle-Sized Diatoms From Increasing Seawater CO2 |
topic_facet |
ocean acidification diatom CO2-concentrating mechanism growth rate response cell size eco-physiological modeling Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
Diatoms, one of the most important phytoplankton groups, fulfill their carbon demand from seawater mainly by obtaining passively diffused carbon dioxide (CO2) and/or actively consuming intracellular energy to acquire bicarbonate (HCO3–). An anthropogenically induced increase in seawater CO2 reduces the HCO3– requirement of diatoms, potentially saving intracellular energy and benefitting their growth. This effect is commonly speculated to be most remarkable in larger diatoms that are subject to a stronger limitation of CO2 supply because of their smaller surface-to-volume ratios. However, we constructed a theoretical model for diatoms and revealed a unimodal relationship between the simulated growth rate response (GRR, the ratio of growth rates under elevated and ambient CO2) and cell size, with the GRR peaking at a cell diameter of ∼7 μm. The simulated GRR of the smallest diatoms was low because the CO2 supply was nearly sufficient at the ambient level, while the decline of GRR from a cell diameter of 7 μm was simulated because the contribution of seawater CO2 to the total carbon demand greatly decreased and diatoms became less sensitive to CO2 increase. A collection of historical data in CO2 enrichment experiments of diatoms also showed a roughly unimodal relationship between maximal GRR and cell size. Our model further revealed that the “optimal” cell size corresponding to peak GRR enlarged with the magnitude of CO2 increase but diminished with elevating cellular carbon demand, leading to projection of the smallest optimal cell size in the equatorial Pacific upwelling zone. Last, we need to emphasize that the size-dependent effects of increasing CO2 on diatoms are multifaceted, while our model only considers the inorganic carbon supply from seawater and optimal allocation of intracellular energy. Our study proposes a competitive advantage of middle-sized diatoms and can be useful in projecting changes in the diatom community in the future acidified high-CO2 ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Qi Zhang Ya-Wei Luo |
author_facet |
Qi Zhang Ya-Wei Luo |
author_sort |
Qi Zhang |
title |
A Competitive Advantage of Middle-Sized Diatoms From Increasing Seawater CO2 |
title_short |
A Competitive Advantage of Middle-Sized Diatoms From Increasing Seawater CO2 |
title_full |
A Competitive Advantage of Middle-Sized Diatoms From Increasing Seawater CO2 |
title_fullStr |
A Competitive Advantage of Middle-Sized Diatoms From Increasing Seawater CO2 |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Competitive Advantage of Middle-Sized Diatoms From Increasing Seawater CO2 |
title_sort |
competitive advantage of middle-sized diatoms from increasing seawater co2 |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.838629 https://doaj.org/article/2e15a066b5ff4eee8842c4391e06f395 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 13 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.838629/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.838629 https://doaj.org/article/2e15a066b5ff4eee8842c4391e06f395 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.838629 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
13 |
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1766159229770530816 |