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Title: Elevated temperature increases carbon and nitrogen fluxes between phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria through physical attachment

Journal Article · · The ISME Journal
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Centro Oceanografico de Gijon/Xixon, Asturias (Spain)
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. Centro Oceanografico de Gijon/Xixon, Asturias (Spain); AZTI, Bizkaia (Spain)
  4. Centro Oceanografico de Gijon/Xixon, Asturias (Spain); King Abdullah Univ. of Science and Technology, Thuwal (Saudi Arabia)
  5. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Quantifying the contribution of marine microorganisms to carbon and nitrogen cycles and their response to predicted ocean warming is one of the main challenges of microbial oceanography. Here we present a single-cell NanoSIMS isotope analysis to quantify C and N uptake by free-living and attached phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria, and their response to short-term experimental warming of 4 °C. Elevated temperature increased total C fixation by over 50%, a small but significant fraction of which was transferred to heterotrophs within 12 h. Cell-to-cell attachment doubled the secondary C uptake by heterotrophic bacteria and increased secondary N incorporation by autotrophs by 68%. Warming also increased the abundance of phytoplankton with attached heterotrophs by 80%, and promoted C transfer from phytoplankton to bacteria by 17% and N transfer from bacteria to phytoplankton by 50%. Lastly, our results indicate that phytoplankton-bacteria attachment provides an ecological advantage for nutrient incorporation, suggesting a mutualistic relationship that appears to be enhanced by temperature increases.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1351131
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-677811
Journal Information:
The ISME Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 3; ISSN 1751-7362
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 41 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 365, Issue 1549 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0045
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Cited By (11)

Nutrient recycling facilitates long-term stability of marine microbial phototroph–heterotroph interactions journal June 2017
Nitrate and ammonium fluxes to diatoms and dinoflagellates at a single cell level in mixed field communities in the sea journal February 2019
Quantitative isotope incorporation reveals substrate partitioning in a coastal microbial community journal March 2018
Visualization is crucial for understanding microbial processes in the ocean journal October 2019
Attachment between heterotrophic bacteria and microalgae influences symbiotic microscale interactions journal October 2018
Evidence for contrasting roles of dimethylsulfoniopropionate production in Emiliania huxleyi and Thalassiosira oceanica journal January 2020
Dynamics of Heterotrophic Bacterial Assemblages within Synechococcus Cultures journal November 2017
Marine Microbial Gene Abundance and Community Composition in Response to Ocean Acidification and Elevated Temperature in Two Contrasting Coastal Marine Sediments journal August 2017
Chasing after Non-cyanobacterial Nitrogen Fixation in Marine Pelagic Environments journal September 2017
Using Click-Chemistry for Visualizing in Situ Changes of Translational Activity in Planktonic Marine Bacteria journal December 2017
Quantifying Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation by Synechococcus Using Bulk and Single-Cell Mass Spectrometry: A Comparative Study journal November 2018

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