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Marine bacterioplankton can increase evaporation and gas transfer by metabolizing insoluble surfactants from the air-seawater interface

Marine bacterioplankton can increase evaporation and gas transfer by metabolizing insoluble surfactants from the air-seawater interface
Marine bacterioplankton can increase evaporation and gas transfer by metabolizing insoluble surfactants from the air-seawater interface
Hydrophobic surfactants at the air–sea interface can retard evaporative and gaseous exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean. While numerous studies have examined the metabolic role of bacterioneuston at the air–sea interface, the interactions between hydrophobic surfactants and bacterioplankton are not well constrained. A novel experimental design was developed, using Vibrio natriegens and 3H-labelled hexadecanoic acid tracer, to determine how the bacterial metabolism of fatty acids affects evaporative fluxes. In abiotic systems, >92% of the added hexadecanoic acid remained at the air–water interface. In contrast, the presence of V. natriegens cells draws down insoluble hexadecanoic acid from the air–water interface as an exponential function of time. The exponents characterizing the removal of hexadecanoic acid from the interface co-vary with the concentration of V. natriegens cells in the underlying water, with the largest exponent corresponding to the highest cell abundance. Radiochemical budgets show that evaporative fluxes from the system are linearly proportional to the quantity of hexadecanoic acid at the interface. Thus, bacterioplankton could influence the rate of evaporation and gas transfer in the ocean through the metabolism of otherwise insoluble surfactants.
marine bacteria, surface microlayer, evaporation, hydrophobic, surfactant, isotopic tracer
0378-1097
225-231
Salter, Ian
b38c8ced-835b-4732-ac38-df1c93a0c1ba
Zubkov, Mikhail V.
b1dfb3a0-bcff-430c-9031-358a22b50743
Warwick, Phil E.
f2675d83-eee2-40c5-b53d-fbe437f401ef
Burkill, Peter H.
511b68df-1664-418f-baa1-b1075f1e1fed
Salter, Ian
b38c8ced-835b-4732-ac38-df1c93a0c1ba
Zubkov, Mikhail V.
b1dfb3a0-bcff-430c-9031-358a22b50743
Warwick, Phil E.
f2675d83-eee2-40c5-b53d-fbe437f401ef
Burkill, Peter H.
511b68df-1664-418f-baa1-b1075f1e1fed

Salter, Ian, Zubkov, Mikhail V., Warwick, Phil E. and Burkill, Peter H. (2009) Marine bacterioplankton can increase evaporation and gas transfer by metabolizing insoluble surfactants from the air-seawater interface. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 294 (2), 225-231. (doi:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2009.01572.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Hydrophobic surfactants at the air–sea interface can retard evaporative and gaseous exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean. While numerous studies have examined the metabolic role of bacterioneuston at the air–sea interface, the interactions between hydrophobic surfactants and bacterioplankton are not well constrained. A novel experimental design was developed, using Vibrio natriegens and 3H-labelled hexadecanoic acid tracer, to determine how the bacterial metabolism of fatty acids affects evaporative fluxes. In abiotic systems, >92% of the added hexadecanoic acid remained at the air–water interface. In contrast, the presence of V. natriegens cells draws down insoluble hexadecanoic acid from the air–water interface as an exponential function of time. The exponents characterizing the removal of hexadecanoic acid from the interface co-vary with the concentration of V. natriegens cells in the underlying water, with the largest exponent corresponding to the highest cell abundance. Radiochemical budgets show that evaporative fluxes from the system are linearly proportional to the quantity of hexadecanoic acid at the interface. Thus, bacterioplankton could influence the rate of evaporation and gas transfer in the ocean through the metabolism of otherwise insoluble surfactants.

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More information

Published date: May 2009
Keywords: marine bacteria, surface microlayer, evaporation, hydrophobic, surfactant, isotopic tracer

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 69172
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/69172
ISSN: 0378-1097
PURE UUID: 995cf57b-b582-40ea-8f4a-ec9d94b66f16
ORCID for Phil E. Warwick: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8774-5125

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 Oct 2009
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:38

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Contributors

Author: Ian Salter
Author: Mikhail V. Zubkov
Author: Phil E. Warwick ORCID iD
Author: Peter H. Burkill

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