skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: The abundant marine bacterium Pelagibacter simultaneously catabolizes dimethylsulfoniopropionate to the gases dimethyl sulfide and methanethiol

Abstract

Marine phytoplankton produce ~109 tons of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) per year1,2, an estimated 10% of which is catabolized by bacteria through the DMSP cleavage pathway to the climatically active gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS)3,4. SAR11 Alphaproteobacteria (order Pelagibacterales), the most abundant chemoorganotrophic bacteria in the oceans, have been shown to assimilate DMSP into biomass, thereby supplying this cell’s unusual requirement for reduced sulfur5,6. Here we report that Pelagibacter HTCC1062 produces the gas methanethiol (MeSH) and that simultaneously a second DMSP catabolic pathway, mediated by a DMSP lyase, shunts as much as 59% of DMSP uptake to DMS production. We propose a model in which the allocation of DMSP between these pathways is kinetically controlled to release increasing amounts of DMS as the supply of DMSP exceeds cellular sulfur demands for biosynthesis. These findings suggest that DMSP supply and demand relationships in Pelagibacter metabolism are important to determining rates of oceanic DMS production.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1327136
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-108154
Journal ID: ISSN 2058-5276; 48680; KP1601010
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Nature Microbiology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 1; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2058-5276
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Citation Formats

Sun, Jing, Todd, Jonathan D., Thrash, J. Cameron, Qian, Yanping, Qian, Michael C., Temperton, Ben, Guo, Jiazhen, Fowler, Emily K., Aldrich, Joshua T., Nicora, Carrie D., Lipton, Mary S., Smith, Richard D., De Leenheer, Patrick, Payne, Samuel H., Johnston, Andrew W. B., Davie-Martin, Cleo L., Halsey, Kimberly H., and Giovannoni, Stephen J. The abundant marine bacterium Pelagibacter simultaneously catabolizes dimethylsulfoniopropionate to the gases dimethyl sulfide and methanethiol. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.65.
Sun, Jing, Todd, Jonathan D., Thrash, J. Cameron, Qian, Yanping, Qian, Michael C., Temperton, Ben, Guo, Jiazhen, Fowler, Emily K., Aldrich, Joshua T., Nicora, Carrie D., Lipton, Mary S., Smith, Richard D., De Leenheer, Patrick, Payne, Samuel H., Johnston, Andrew W. B., Davie-Martin, Cleo L., Halsey, Kimberly H., & Giovannoni, Stephen J. The abundant marine bacterium Pelagibacter simultaneously catabolizes dimethylsulfoniopropionate to the gases dimethyl sulfide and methanethiol. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.65
Sun, Jing, Todd, Jonathan D., Thrash, J. Cameron, Qian, Yanping, Qian, Michael C., Temperton, Ben, Guo, Jiazhen, Fowler, Emily K., Aldrich, Joshua T., Nicora, Carrie D., Lipton, Mary S., Smith, Richard D., De Leenheer, Patrick, Payne, Samuel H., Johnston, Andrew W. B., Davie-Martin, Cleo L., Halsey, Kimberly H., and Giovannoni, Stephen J. 2016. "The abundant marine bacterium Pelagibacter simultaneously catabolizes dimethylsulfoniopropionate to the gases dimethyl sulfide and methanethiol". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.65.
@article{osti_1327136,
title = {The abundant marine bacterium Pelagibacter simultaneously catabolizes dimethylsulfoniopropionate to the gases dimethyl sulfide and methanethiol},
author = {Sun, Jing and Todd, Jonathan D. and Thrash, J. Cameron and Qian, Yanping and Qian, Michael C. and Temperton, Ben and Guo, Jiazhen and Fowler, Emily K. and Aldrich, Joshua T. and Nicora, Carrie D. and Lipton, Mary S. and Smith, Richard D. and De Leenheer, Patrick and Payne, Samuel H. and Johnston, Andrew W. B. and Davie-Martin, Cleo L. and Halsey, Kimberly H. and Giovannoni, Stephen J.},
abstractNote = {Marine phytoplankton produce ~109 tons of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) per year1,2, an estimated 10% of which is catabolized by bacteria through the DMSP cleavage pathway to the climatically active gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS)3,4. SAR11 Alphaproteobacteria (order Pelagibacterales), the most abundant chemoorganotrophic bacteria in the oceans, have been shown to assimilate DMSP into biomass, thereby supplying this cell’s unusual requirement for reduced sulfur5,6. Here we report that Pelagibacter HTCC1062 produces the gas methanethiol (MeSH) and that simultaneously a second DMSP catabolic pathway, mediated by a DMSP lyase, shunts as much as 59% of DMSP uptake to DMS production. We propose a model in which the allocation of DMSP between these pathways is kinetically controlled to release increasing amounts of DMS as the supply of DMSP exceeds cellular sulfur demands for biosynthesis. These findings suggest that DMSP supply and demand relationships in Pelagibacter metabolism are important to determining rates of oceanic DMS production.},
doi = {10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.65},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1327136}, journal = {Nature Microbiology},
issn = {2058-5276},
number = 8,
volume = 1,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon May 16 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}