Image_1_Bacterial and Archaeal Specific-Predation in the North Atlantic Basin.JPEG

• Main Authors: Lauren M. Seyler, Steve Tuorto, Lora R. McGuinness, Donglai Gong, Lee J. Kerkhof
• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Oceanography; Marine Biology; Marine Geoscience; Biological Oceanography; Chemical Oceanography; Physical Oceanography; Marine Engineering; archaea; bacteria; predation; competition; stable isotope probing; deep ocean; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00555.s001; https://figshare.com/articles/Image_1_Bacterial_and_Archaeal_Specific-Predation_in_the_North_Atlantic_Basin_JPEG/9797060

Stable isotope probing (SIP) was used to track prokaryotic and eukaryotic carbon uptake along a meridional transect (Long. 52°W) in the North Atlantic to assess if 13 C-resource partitioning between bacteria and archaea and 13 C-labeled eukaryotic predators could be detected. One-liter SIP microcosms were amended with 13 C-acetate or 13 C-urea and incubated for 48 h. Our data indicated archaea often outcompeted bacteria for 13 C-urea while both archaea and bacteria could incorporate 13 C-acetate. This 13 C label could also be tracked into eukaryotic microbes. The largest number of 13 C-labeled eukaryotic OTUs, and the greatest percentage of eukaryotic 13 C signal, were observed in conjunction with both archaeal and bacterial 13 C incorporation, suggesting that most eukaryotic predators do not distinguish between archaeal and bacterial prey. However, other 13 C-eukaryotic OTUs were exclusively associated with either 13 C-archaeal or 13 C-bacterial OTUs. These archaeal-specific and bacterial-specific 13 C-eukaryotic OTUs were related to known bactivorous predators including Ancyromonas, Amastigomonas, Cafeteria, and Caecitellus. Our SIP findings suggest both resource partitioning between bacteria and TACK (Thaumarchaeota, Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota, and Korarchaeota) archaea and selective predation by eukaryotic predators. Determining the equalizing mechanisms for co-existence in the marine environment can help map predator/prey interactions to better estimate carbon flow in the deep ocean.