High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean
Planktonic algae <5 m in size are major fixers of inorganic carbon in the ocean1. They dominate phytoplankton biomass in post-bloom, stratified oceanic temperate waters2. Traditionally, large and small algae are viewed as having a critical growth dependence on inorganic nutrients, which the latte...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:152554 2023-05-15T17:31:06+02:00 High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean Zubkov, Mikhail V. Tarran, Glen A. 2008-09-11 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/152554/ http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full/nature07236.html https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07236 unknown Zubkov, Mikhail V.; Tarran, Glen A. 2008 High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature, 455 (7210). 224-226. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07236 <https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07236> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07236 2023-02-04T19:35:05Z Planktonic algae <5 m in size are major fixers of inorganic carbon in the ocean1. They dominate phytoplankton biomass in post-bloom, stratified oceanic temperate waters2. Traditionally, large and small algae are viewed as having a critical growth dependence on inorganic nutrients, which the latter can better acquire at lower ambient concentrations owing to their higher surface area to volume ratios3, 4. Nonetheless, recent phosphate tracer experiments in the oligotrophic ocean5 have suggested that small algae obtain inorganic phosphate indirectly, possibly through feeding on bacterioplankton. There have been numerous microscopy-based studies of algae feeding mixotrophically6, 7 in the laboratory8, 9, 10 and field11, 12, 13, 14, as well as mathematical modelling of the ecological importance of mixotrophy15. However, because of methodological limitations16 there has not been a direct comparison of obligate heterotrophic and mixotrophic bacterivory. Here we present direct evidence that small algae carry out 40–95% of the bacterivory in the euphotic layer of the temperate North Atlantic Ocean in summer. A similar range of 37–70% was determined in the surface waters of the tropical North-East Atlantic Ocean, suggesting the global significance of mixotrophy. This finding reveals that even the smallest algae have less dependence on dissolved inorganic nutrients than previously thought, obtaining a quarter of their biomass from bacterivory. This has important implications for how we perceive nutrient acquisition and limitation of carbon-fixing protists as well as control of bacterioplankton in the ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic North East Atlantic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Nature 455 7210 224 226 |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
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unknown |
description |
Planktonic algae <5 m in size are major fixers of inorganic carbon in the ocean1. They dominate phytoplankton biomass in post-bloom, stratified oceanic temperate waters2. Traditionally, large and small algae are viewed as having a critical growth dependence on inorganic nutrients, which the latter can better acquire at lower ambient concentrations owing to their higher surface area to volume ratios3, 4. Nonetheless, recent phosphate tracer experiments in the oligotrophic ocean5 have suggested that small algae obtain inorganic phosphate indirectly, possibly through feeding on bacterioplankton. There have been numerous microscopy-based studies of algae feeding mixotrophically6, 7 in the laboratory8, 9, 10 and field11, 12, 13, 14, as well as mathematical modelling of the ecological importance of mixotrophy15. However, because of methodological limitations16 there has not been a direct comparison of obligate heterotrophic and mixotrophic bacterivory. Here we present direct evidence that small algae carry out 40–95% of the bacterivory in the euphotic layer of the temperate North Atlantic Ocean in summer. A similar range of 37–70% was determined in the surface waters of the tropical North-East Atlantic Ocean, suggesting the global significance of mixotrophy. This finding reveals that even the smallest algae have less dependence on dissolved inorganic nutrients than previously thought, obtaining a quarter of their biomass from bacterivory. This has important implications for how we perceive nutrient acquisition and limitation of carbon-fixing protists as well as control of bacterioplankton in the ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zubkov, Mikhail V. Tarran, Glen A. |
spellingShingle |
Zubkov, Mikhail V. Tarran, Glen A. High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean |
author_facet |
Zubkov, Mikhail V. Tarran, Glen A. |
author_sort |
Zubkov, Mikhail V. |
title |
High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_short |
High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full |
High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_sort |
high bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the north atlantic ocean |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/152554/ http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7210/full/nature07236.html https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07236 |
genre |
North Atlantic North East Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North East Atlantic |
op_relation |
Zubkov, Mikhail V.; Tarran, Glen A. 2008 High bacterivory by the smallest phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature, 455 (7210). 224-226. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07236 <https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07236> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07236 |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
455 |
container_issue |
7210 |
container_start_page |
224 |
op_container_end_page |
226 |
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1766128415616794624 |