Coupling Between Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolic Processes Mediated by Coastal Microbes in Synechococcus-Derived Organic Matter Addition Incubations

Frontiers in Microbiology

Yu Wang¹  Rui Xie²  Nianzhi Jiao²  Qiang Zheng²  Qi Chen²  Weidong Guo³ 

[1] College of Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China;Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China;Key Laboratory of Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems, Ministry of Education, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China;State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Institute of Marine Microbes and Ecospheres, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China;

关键词: heterotrophic bacteria;    Synechococcus-derived organic matter;    nitrogen cycling;    fluorescent dissolved organic matter;    recalcitrant dissolved organic matter;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmicb.2020.01041

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Phytoplankton are major contributors to labile organic matter in the upper ocean. Diverse heterotrophic bacteria successively metabolize these labile compounds and drive elemental biogeochemical cycling. We investigated the bioavailability of Synechococcus-derived organic matter (SOM) by estuarine and coastal microbes during 180-day dark incubations. Variations in organic carbon, inorganic nutrients, fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM), and total/active microbial communities were monitored. The entire incubations could be partitioned into three phases (labeled I, II, and III) based on the total organic carbon (TOC) consumption rates of 6.38–7.01, 0.53–0.64, and 0.10–0.13 μmol C L–1 day–1, respectively. This corresponded with accumulation processes of NH4+, NO2–, and NO3–, respectively. One tryptophan-like (C1) and three humic-like (C2, C3, and C4) FDOM components were identified. The intensity variation of C1 followed bacterial growth activities, and C2, C3, and C4 displayed labile, semi-labile, and refractory DOM characteristics, respectively. Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria dominated the quickly consumed process of SOM (phase I) coupled with a substantial amount of NH4+ generation. Thaumarchaeota became an abundant population with the highest activities in phase II, especially in the free-living size-fraction, and these organisms could perform chemoautotroph processes through the ammonia oxidation. Microbial populations frequently found in the dark ocean, even the deep sea, became abundant during phase III, in which Nitrospinae/Nitrospirae obtained energy through nitrite oxidation. Our results shed light on the transformation of different biological availability of organic carbon by coastal microorganisms which coupled with the regeneration of different form of inorganic nitrogen.

【 授权许可】

Unknown