Eukaryotic influence on the oceanic biological carbon pump in the Scotia Sea as revealed by 18S rRNA gene sequencing of suspended and sinking particles
Eukaryotic influence on the oceanic biological carbon pump in the Scotia Sea as revealed by 18S rRNA gene sequencing of suspended and sinking particles
Suspended marine particles constitute most of the particulate organic matter pool in the oceans, thereby providing substantial substrates for heterotrophs, especially in the mesopelagic. Conversely, sinking particles are major contributors to carbon fluxes defining the strength of the biological carbon pump (BCP). This study is the first to investigate the differential influence of eukaryotic communities to suspended and sinking particles, using 18S rRNA gene sequencing on particles collected with a marine snow catcher in the mixed layer and upper mesopelagic of the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean. In the upper mesopelagic, most eukaryotic phytoplankton sequences belonged to chain-forming diatoms in sinking particles and to prymnesiophytes in suspended particles. This suggests that diatom-enriched particles are more efficient in carbon transfer to the upper mesopelagic than those enriched in prymnesiophytes in the Scotia Sea, the latter more easily disintegrating into suspended particles. In the upper mesopelagic, copepods appeared most influential on sinking particles whereas soft-tissue metazoan sequences contributed more to suspended particles. Heterotrophic protists and fungi communities were distinct between mixed layer and upper mesopelagic, implying that few protists ride along sinking particles. Furthermore, differences between predatory flagellates and radiolarians between suspended and sinking particles implied different ecological conditions between the two particles pools, and roles in the BCP. Molecular analyses of sinking and suspended particles constitute powerful diagnostic tools to study the eukaryotic influence on the BCP in a more holistic manner compared to classic carbon export studies focusing on sinking particles.
S49-S70
Duret, Manon
e9f43140-067d-45d4-b7ea-68dd432798ea
Lampitt, Richard
dfc3785c-fc7d-41fa-89ee-d0c6e27503ad
Lam, Phyllis
996aef80-a15d-4827-aed8-1b97b378f6ad
1 January 2020
Duret, Manon
e9f43140-067d-45d4-b7ea-68dd432798ea
Lampitt, Richard
dfc3785c-fc7d-41fa-89ee-d0c6e27503ad
Lam, Phyllis
996aef80-a15d-4827-aed8-1b97b378f6ad
Duret, Manon, Lampitt, Richard and Lam, Phyllis
(2020)
Eukaryotic influence on the oceanic biological carbon pump in the Scotia Sea as revealed by 18S rRNA gene sequencing of suspended and sinking particles.
Limnology and Oceanography, 65 (S1), .
(doi:10.1002/lno.11319).
Abstract
Suspended marine particles constitute most of the particulate organic matter pool in the oceans, thereby providing substantial substrates for heterotrophs, especially in the mesopelagic. Conversely, sinking particles are major contributors to carbon fluxes defining the strength of the biological carbon pump (BCP). This study is the first to investigate the differential influence of eukaryotic communities to suspended and sinking particles, using 18S rRNA gene sequencing on particles collected with a marine snow catcher in the mixed layer and upper mesopelagic of the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean. In the upper mesopelagic, most eukaryotic phytoplankton sequences belonged to chain-forming diatoms in sinking particles and to prymnesiophytes in suspended particles. This suggests that diatom-enriched particles are more efficient in carbon transfer to the upper mesopelagic than those enriched in prymnesiophytes in the Scotia Sea, the latter more easily disintegrating into suspended particles. In the upper mesopelagic, copepods appeared most influential on sinking particles whereas soft-tissue metazoan sequences contributed more to suspended particles. Heterotrophic protists and fungi communities were distinct between mixed layer and upper mesopelagic, implying that few protists ride along sinking particles. Furthermore, differences between predatory flagellates and radiolarians between suspended and sinking particles implied different ecological conditions between the two particles pools, and roles in the BCP. Molecular analyses of sinking and suspended particles constitute powerful diagnostic tools to study the eukaryotic influence on the BCP in a more holistic manner compared to classic carbon export studies focusing on sinking particles.
Text
18S_Scotia_Sea_manuscript
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 12 August 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 September 2019
Published date: 1 January 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We sincerely thank the officers and crew of the RRS James Clark Ross for their logistical and technical support during the JR304 cruise, Anna Belcher (British Antarctic Survey) for sharing particulate organic carbon data, and Alison Baylay at the Environmental Genomics Facility (University of Southampton) for her assistance on next‐generation sequencing. Funding support came from University of Southampton (Start‐up Grant for Phyllis Lam) and the Natural Environment Research Council. We thank the reviewers for contributing to enhance the quality of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors. Limnology and Oceanography published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.
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Local EPrints ID: 433854
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/433854
ISSN: 0024-3590
PURE UUID: 16325693-abb5-410b-85b8-398fc614d55f
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Date deposited: 04 Sep 2019 16:30
Last modified: 20 Sep 2024 04:01
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Author:
Manon Duret
Author:
Richard Lampitt
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