Dataset Information

Seasonal metabolic dynamics of microeukaryotic plankton: a year-long metatranscriptomic study in a temperate sea.

ABSTRACT: Seasonal fluctuations profoundly affect marine microeukaryotic plankton composition and metabolism, but accurately tracking these changes has been a long-standing challenge. In this study, we present a year-long metatranscriptomic data set from the Southern Bight of the North Sea, shedding light on the seasonal dynamics in temperate plankton ecosystems. We observe distinct shifts in active plankton species and their metabolic processes in response to seasonal changes. We characterized the metabolic signatures of different seasonal phases in detail, thereby revealing the metabolic versatility of dinoflagellates, the heterotrophic dietary strategy of Phaeocystis during its late-stage blooms, and stark variations in summer and fall diatom abundance and metabolic activity across nearby sampling stations. Our data illuminate the varied contributions of microeukaryotic taxa to biomass production and nutrient cycling at different times of the year and allow delineation of their ecological niches.

Importance

Ecosystem composition and metabolic functions of temperate marine microeukaryote plankton are strongly influenced by seasonal dynamics. Although monitoring of species composition of microeukaryotes has expanded recently, few methods also contain seasonally resolved information on ecosystem functioning. We generated a year-long spatially resolved metatranscriptomic data set to assess seasonal dynamics of microeukaryote species and their associated metabolic functions in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. Our study underscores the potential of metatranscriptomics as a powerful tool for advancing our understanding of marine ecosystem functionality and resilience in response to environmental changes, emphasizing its potential in continuous marine ecosystem monitoring to enhance our ecological understanding of the ocean's eukaryotic microbiome.

SUBMITTER: Perneel M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11323732 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Seasonal metabolic dynamics of microeukaryotic plankton: a year-long metatranscriptomic study in a temperate sea.

Perneel Michiel M Lagaisse Rune R Mortelmans Jonas J Maere Steven S Hablützel Pascal I PI

mBio 20240709 8

Seasonal fluctuations profoundly affect marine microeukaryotic plankton composition and metabolism, but accurately tracking these changes has been a long-standing challenge. In this study, we present a year-long metatranscriptomic data set from the Southern Bight of the North Sea, shedding light on the seasonal dynamics in temperate plankton ecosystems. We observe distinct shifts in active plankton species and their metabolic processes in response to seasonal changes. We characterized the metabo ...[more]

PMID: 38980008

Similar Datasets

Project description:Gaining understanding of food-web processes often requires a simplified representation of natural diversity. One such simplification can be based on functional traits, as functionally similar species may provide a similar contribution to ecosystem level-processes. However, understanding how similarity in functional traits actually translates into similar contributions to ecosystem-level properties remains a challenge due to the complex ways in which traits can influence species' dynamics. Moreover, in many communities, seasonality alters the abiotic and biotic forcing regime, causing ongoing changes to patterns of species' dominance; groups of species do not stay intact but are rather continuously subjected to changes throughout the year. Using long-term high frequency measurements of phytoplankton in Lake Constance, we investigated the effect of seasonal changes on the relationship between functional similarity and temporal dynamics similarity of 36 morphotypes, and the relative contribution of different functional traits during the different parts of the year. Our results revealed seasonal differences in the overall degree of synchronization of morphotypes' temporal dynamics and how combinations of functional traits influence the relationship between functional trait similarity and temporal dynamics similarity, showing that different forcing regimes change how species cope with their environment based on their functional traits. Moreover, we show that the individual functional traits matter at different periods of the year indicating that species which are dynamically similar at certain parts of the year may not be at others. The differential strength of the overall and individual impact of functional traits on species' temporal dynamics makes the cohesion of a pair of functionally similar species dependent on the different forcing. Hence, simplifying food webs based solely on functional traits may not provide consistent estimates of functional groups over all seasons.

Project description:Marine bacterioplankton are essential in global nutrient cycling and organic matter turnover. Time-series analyses, often at monthly sampling frequencies, have established the paramount role of abiotic and biotic variables in structuring bacterioplankton communities and productivities. However, fine-scale seasonal microbial activities, and underlying biological principles, are not fully understood. We report results from four consecutive years of high-frequency time-series sampling in the Baltic Proper. Pronounced temporal dynamics in most investigated microbial variables were observed, including bacterial heterotrophic production, plankton biomass, extracellular enzyme activities, substrate uptake rate constants of glucose, pyruvate, acetate, amino acids, and leucine, as well as nutrient limitation bioassays. Spring blooms consisting of diatoms and dinoflagellates were followed by elevated bacterial heterotrophic production and abundances. During summer, bacterial productivity estimates increased even further, coinciding with an initial cyanobacterial bloom in early July. However, bacterial abundances only increased following a second cyanobacterial bloom, peaking in August. Uptake rate constants for the different measured carbon compounds varied seasonally and inter-annually and were highly correlated to bacterial productivity estimates, temperature, and cyanobacterial abundances. Further, we detected nutrient limitation in response to environmental conditions in a multitude of microbial variables, such as elevated productivities in nutrient bioassays, changes in enzymatic activities, or substrate preferences. Variations among biotic variables often occurred on time scales of days to a few weeks, yet often spanning several sampling occasions. Such dynamics might not have been captured by sampling at monthly intervals, as compared to more predictable transitions in abiotic variables such as temperature or nutrient concentrations. Our study indicates that high resolution analyses of microbial biomass and productivity parameters can help out in the development of biogeochemical and food web models disentangling the microbial black box.

Project description:Spatial patterns of marine Synechococcus diversity across ocean domains have been reported on extensively. However, much less is known of seasonal and multiannual patterns of change in Synechococcus community composition. Here we report on the genotypic diversity of Synechococcus populations in the Gulf of Aqaba, Northern Red Sea, over seven annual cycles of deep mixing and stabile stratification, using ntcA as a phylogenetic marker. Synechococcus clone libraries were dominated by clade II and XII genotypes and a total of eight different clades were identified. Inclusion of ntcA sequences from the Global Ocean Sampling database in our analyses identified members of clade XII from beyond the Gulf of Aqaba, extending its known distribution. Most of the Synechococcus diversity was attributed to members of clade II during the spring bloom, while clade III contributed significantly to diversity during summer stratification. Clade XII diversity was most prevalent in fall and winter. Clade abundances were estimated from pyrosequencing of the V6 hypervariable region of 16S rRNA. Members of clade II dominated Synechococcus communities throughout the year, whereas the less frequent genotypes showed a pattern of seasonal succession. Based on the prevailing nutritional conditions we observed that clade I members thrive at higher nutrient concentrations during winter mixing. Clades V, VI and X became apparent during the transition periods between mixing and stratification. Clade III became prominent during sumeer stratification. We propose that members of clades V, VI, and X, and clade III are Synechococcus ecotypes that are adapted to intermediate and low nutrient levels respectively. This is the first time that molecular analyses have correlated population dynamics of Synechococcus genotypes with temporal fluctuations in nutrient regimes. Since these Synechococcus genotypes are routinely observed in the Gulf of Aqaba we suggest that seasonal fluctuations in nutrient levels create temporal niches that sustain their coexistence.

Dataset Information

Seasonal metabolic dynamics of microeukaryotic plankton: a year-long metatranscriptomic study in a temperate sea.

Importance

Publications

Seasonal metabolic dynamics of microeukaryotic plankton: a year-long metatranscriptomic study in a temperate sea.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets