Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean
Oceanic bacterial communities process a major fraction of marine organic carbon. A substantial portion of this carbon transformation occurs in the mesopelagic zone, and a further fraction fuels bacteria in the bathypelagic zone. However, the capabilities and limitations of the diverse microbial comm...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:909d7d28575a414e86bd683e05eb0d17 2023-05-15T17:31:41+02:00 Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean S. A. Brown J. P. Balmonte A. Hoarfrost S. Ghobrial C. Arnosti 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5617-2022 https://doaj.org/article/909d7d28575a414e86bd683e05eb0d17 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/5617/2022/bg-19-5617-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-5617-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/909d7d28575a414e86bd683e05eb0d17 Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 5617-5631 (2022) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5617-2022 2022-12-30T19:34:36Z Oceanic bacterial communities process a major fraction of marine organic carbon. A substantial portion of this carbon transformation occurs in the mesopelagic zone, and a further fraction fuels bacteria in the bathypelagic zone. However, the capabilities and limitations of the diverse microbial communities at these depths to degrade high-molecular-weight (HMW) organic matter are not well constrained. Here, we compared the responses of distinct microbial communities from North Atlantic epipelagic (0–200 m), mesopelagic (200–1000 m), and bathypelagic (1000–4000 m) waters at two open-ocean stations to the same input of diatom-derived HMW particulate and dissolved organic matter. Microbial community composition and functional responses to the input of HMW organic matter – as measured by polysaccharide hydrolase, glucosidase, and peptidase activities – were very similar between the stations, which were separated by 1370 km but showed distinct patterns with depth. Changes in microbial community composition coincided with changes in enzymatic activities: as bacterial community composition changed in response to the addition of HMW organic matter, the rate and spectrum of enzymatic activities increased. In epipelagic mesocosms, the spectrum of peptidase activities became especially broad and glucosidase activities were very high, a pattern not seen at other depths, which, in contrast, were dominated by leucine aminopeptidase and had much lower peptidase and glucosidase rates in general. The spectrum of polysaccharide hydrolase activities was enhanced particularly in epipelagic and mesopelagic mesocosms, with fewer enhancements in rates or spectrum in bathypelagic waters. The timing and magnitude of these distinct functional responses to the same HMW organic matter varied with depth. Our results highlight the importance of residence times at specific depths in determining the nature and quantity of organic matter reaching the deep sea. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Biogeosciences 19 24 5617 5631 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
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Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 S. A. Brown J. P. Balmonte A. Hoarfrost S. Ghobrial C. Arnosti Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Oceanic bacterial communities process a major fraction of marine organic carbon. A substantial portion of this carbon transformation occurs in the mesopelagic zone, and a further fraction fuels bacteria in the bathypelagic zone. However, the capabilities and limitations of the diverse microbial communities at these depths to degrade high-molecular-weight (HMW) organic matter are not well constrained. Here, we compared the responses of distinct microbial communities from North Atlantic epipelagic (0–200 m), mesopelagic (200–1000 m), and bathypelagic (1000–4000 m) waters at two open-ocean stations to the same input of diatom-derived HMW particulate and dissolved organic matter. Microbial community composition and functional responses to the input of HMW organic matter – as measured by polysaccharide hydrolase, glucosidase, and peptidase activities – were very similar between the stations, which were separated by 1370 km but showed distinct patterns with depth. Changes in microbial community composition coincided with changes in enzymatic activities: as bacterial community composition changed in response to the addition of HMW organic matter, the rate and spectrum of enzymatic activities increased. In epipelagic mesocosms, the spectrum of peptidase activities became especially broad and glucosidase activities were very high, a pattern not seen at other depths, which, in contrast, were dominated by leucine aminopeptidase and had much lower peptidase and glucosidase rates in general. The spectrum of polysaccharide hydrolase activities was enhanced particularly in epipelagic and mesopelagic mesocosms, with fewer enhancements in rates or spectrum in bathypelagic waters. The timing and magnitude of these distinct functional responses to the same HMW organic matter varied with depth. Our results highlight the importance of residence times at specific depths in determining the nature and quantity of organic matter reaching the deep sea. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. A. Brown J. P. Balmonte A. Hoarfrost S. Ghobrial C. Arnosti |
author_facet |
S. A. Brown J. P. Balmonte A. Hoarfrost S. Ghobrial C. Arnosti |
author_sort |
S. A. Brown |
title |
Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_short |
Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full |
Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_sort |
depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western north atlantic ocean |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5617-2022 https://doaj.org/article/909d7d28575a414e86bd683e05eb0d17 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 5617-5631 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/5617/2022/bg-19-5617-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-5617-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/909d7d28575a414e86bd683e05eb0d17 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5617-2022 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
24 |
container_start_page |
5617 |
op_container_end_page |
5631 |
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1766129369190760448 |