Two subpopulations of Crocosphaera watsonii have distinct distributions in the North and South Pacific
Two subpopulations of Crocosphaera watsonii have distinct distributions in the North and South Pacific
Crocosphaera watsonii is a unicellular nitrogen (N2)-fixing cyanobacterium with ecological importance in oligotrophic oceans. In cultivated strains there are two phenotypes of C.?watsonii (large and small cells) with differences that could differentially impact biogeochemical processes. Recent work has shown the phenotypes diverged through loss or addition of type-specific genes in a fraction of their genomes, whereas the rest of the genomes were maintained at 99–100% DNA identity. Previous molecular assays for C.?watsonii abundances targeted the conserved regions and therefore could not differentiate between phenotypes, so their relative distributions in natural communities were unknown. To determine phenotype distributions, this study developed and applied type-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays to samples from the North and South Pacific. Abundances of both Crocosphaera types declined sharply with depth between 45 and 75?m in both sites. In surface water small cells were 10–100 times more abundant than large cells in the N. Pacific, whereas in the S. Pacific the two phenotypes were nearly equal. Evidence for large cell aggregation was only found in N. Pacific samples. The differences in C.?watsonii sub-populations in the North and South Pacific have direct implications for biogeochemistry and carbon export in oligotrophic gyres.
514-524
Bench, Shellie R.
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Frank, Ildiko
f2e37fa5-988e-406b-8f25-4de2d71db873
Robidart, Julie
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Zehr, Jonathan P.
df07e726-0814-4247-8a74-942c07bd23e2
February 2016
Bench, Shellie R.
3af1690f-2f4e-49c0-a747-99a711e3b6e1
Frank, Ildiko
f2e37fa5-988e-406b-8f25-4de2d71db873
Robidart, Julie
a9b8d49c-c1e3-4a3b-a53c-685a0f2c7f93
Zehr, Jonathan P.
df07e726-0814-4247-8a74-942c07bd23e2
Bench, Shellie R., Frank, Ildiko, Robidart, Julie and Zehr, Jonathan P.
(2016)
Two subpopulations of Crocosphaera watsonii have distinct distributions in the North and South Pacific.
Environmental Microbiology, 18 (2), .
(doi:10.1111/1462-2920.13180).
Abstract
Crocosphaera watsonii is a unicellular nitrogen (N2)-fixing cyanobacterium with ecological importance in oligotrophic oceans. In cultivated strains there are two phenotypes of C.?watsonii (large and small cells) with differences that could differentially impact biogeochemical processes. Recent work has shown the phenotypes diverged through loss or addition of type-specific genes in a fraction of their genomes, whereas the rest of the genomes were maintained at 99–100% DNA identity. Previous molecular assays for C.?watsonii abundances targeted the conserved regions and therefore could not differentiate between phenotypes, so their relative distributions in natural communities were unknown. To determine phenotype distributions, this study developed and applied type-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays to samples from the North and South Pacific. Abundances of both Crocosphaera types declined sharply with depth between 45 and 75?m in both sites. In surface water small cells were 10–100 times more abundant than large cells in the N. Pacific, whereas in the S. Pacific the two phenotypes were nearly equal. Evidence for large cell aggregation was only found in N. Pacific samples. The differences in C.?watsonii sub-populations in the North and South Pacific have direct implications for biogeochemistry and carbon export in oligotrophic gyres.
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Bench et al., 2015 Post Print.pdf
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e-pub ahead of print date: 20 January 2016
Published date: February 2016
Organisations:
Ocean Technology and Engineering
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 386450
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/386450
ISSN: 1462-2920
PURE UUID: ee79a833-e0e7-4331-afd6-7f06378380fe
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Date deposited: 26 Jan 2016 09:39
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 22:32
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Author:
Shellie R. Bench
Author:
Ildiko Frank
Author:
Julie Robidart
Author:
Jonathan P. Zehr
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