Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification
Seagrasses are important primary producers in oceans worldwide. They live in shallow coastal waters that are experiencing carbon dioxide enrichment and ocean acidification. Posidonia oceanica, an endemic seagrass species that dominates the Mediterranean Sea, achieves high abundances in seawater with...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47126-4 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724 |
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ftunichicagoknow:oai:uchicago.tind.io:9724 2024-09-15T18:27:44+00:00 Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification Pfister, Catherine A. Cardini, Ulisse Mirasole, Alice Montilla, Luis M. Veseli, Iva Gattuso, Jean-Pierre Teixido, Nuria 2023-11-16T04:23:13Z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47126-4 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724 eng eng https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724/files/Microbial-associates-of-an-endemic-Mediterranean-seagrass.pdf https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724/files/Supplementary-information.zip doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47126-4 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724 Text 2023 ftunichicagoknow https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47126-4 2024-08-05T14:08:09Z Seagrasses are important primary producers in oceans worldwide. They live in shallow coastal waters that are experiencing carbon dioxide enrichment and ocean acidification. Posidonia oceanica, an endemic seagrass species that dominates the Mediterranean Sea, achieves high abundances in seawater with relatively low concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Here we tested whether microbial metabolisms associated with P. oceanica and surrounding seawater enhance seagrass access to nitrogen. Using stable isotope enrichments of intact seagrass with amino acids, we showed that ammonification by free-living and seagrass-associated microbes produce ammonium that is likely used by seagrass and surrounding particulate organic matter. Metagenomic analysis of the epiphytic biofilm on the blades and rhizomes support the ubiquity of microbial ammonification genes in this system. Further, we leveraged the presence of natural carbon dioxide vents and show that the presence of P. oceanica enhanced the uptake of nitrogen by water column particulate organic matter, increasing carbon fixation by a factor of 8.6–17.4 with the greatest effect at CO 2 vent sites. However, microbial ammonification was reduced at lower pH, suggesting that future ocean climate change will compromise this microbial process. Thus, the seagrass holobiont enhances water column productivity, even in the context of ocean acidification. Text Ocean acidification Knowledge@UChicago (University of Chicago) Scientific Reports 13 1 |
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Seagrasses are important primary producers in oceans worldwide. They live in shallow coastal waters that are experiencing carbon dioxide enrichment and ocean acidification. Posidonia oceanica, an endemic seagrass species that dominates the Mediterranean Sea, achieves high abundances in seawater with relatively low concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Here we tested whether microbial metabolisms associated with P. oceanica and surrounding seawater enhance seagrass access to nitrogen. Using stable isotope enrichments of intact seagrass with amino acids, we showed that ammonification by free-living and seagrass-associated microbes produce ammonium that is likely used by seagrass and surrounding particulate organic matter. Metagenomic analysis of the epiphytic biofilm on the blades and rhizomes support the ubiquity of microbial ammonification genes in this system. Further, we leveraged the presence of natural carbon dioxide vents and show that the presence of P. oceanica enhanced the uptake of nitrogen by water column particulate organic matter, increasing carbon fixation by a factor of 8.6–17.4 with the greatest effect at CO 2 vent sites. However, microbial ammonification was reduced at lower pH, suggesting that future ocean climate change will compromise this microbial process. Thus, the seagrass holobiont enhances water column productivity, even in the context of ocean acidification. |
format |
Text |
author |
Pfister, Catherine A. Cardini, Ulisse Mirasole, Alice Montilla, Luis M. Veseli, Iva Gattuso, Jean-Pierre Teixido, Nuria |
spellingShingle |
Pfister, Catherine A. Cardini, Ulisse Mirasole, Alice Montilla, Luis M. Veseli, Iva Gattuso, Jean-Pierre Teixido, Nuria Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification |
author_facet |
Pfister, Catherine A. Cardini, Ulisse Mirasole, Alice Montilla, Luis M. Veseli, Iva Gattuso, Jean-Pierre Teixido, Nuria |
author_sort |
Pfister, Catherine A. |
title |
Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification |
title_short |
Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification |
title_full |
Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification |
title_fullStr |
Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microbial associates of an endemic Mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification |
title_sort |
microbial associates of an endemic mediterranean seagrass enhance the access of the host and the surrounding seawater to inorganic nitrogen under ocean acidification |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47126-4 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724 |
op_relation |
https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724/files/Microbial-associates-of-an-endemic-Mediterranean-seagrass.pdf https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724/files/Supplementary-information.zip doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47126-4 http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/9724 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47126-4 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
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13 |
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1 |
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1810468988777398272 |