Dataset Information

Spatial variations in archaeal lipids of surface water and core-top sediments in the South china sea and their implications for paleoclimate studies.

ABSTRACT: The South China Sea (SCS) is the largest marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, yet little is known about archaeal distributions and TEX??-based temperatures in this unique oceanic setting. Here we report findings of abundances in both core lipids (CL) and intact polar lipids (IPL) of Archaea from surface water (CL only) and core-top sediments from different regions of the SCS. TEX??-derived temperatures were also calculated for these samples. The surface water had extremely low abundances of CL (average of 0.05 ± 0.13 ng/liter; n = 75), with higher values present in regions where upwelling is known to occur. The core-top sediments had CL values of 0.1 to 0.9 ?g/g, which are on the low end of CL concentrations reported for other marine sediments and may reflect the oligotrophic nature of the open SCS. The IPL of Archaea accounted for 6 to 36.4% of total lipids (CL plus IPL), indicating that the majority of archaeal lipids in core-top sediments were derived from nonliving cells. The TEX??-based temperatures of surface water were overall lower than satellite-based sea surface temperatures or CTD-measured in situ temperatures. The core-top sediment samples, however, had TEX?? temperatures very close to the mean annual sea surface temperatures, except for samples with water depths of less than 100 m. Our results demonstrated low and heterogeneous distributions of archaeal lipids in surface water and core-top sediments of the SCS, which may reflect local or regional differences in productivity of Archaea. While TEX??-based temperatures for core-top marine sediments at deep water depths (>100 m) generally reflected mean annual sea surface temperatures, TEX?? temperatures in surface water varied basin wide and underestimated sea surface temperatures in most locations for the season when surface water samples were collected.

SUBMITTER: Wei Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3209188 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Spatial variations in archaeal lipids of surface water and core-top sediments in the South china sea and their implications for paleoclimate studies.

Wei Yuli Y Wang Jinxiang J Liu Jie J Dong Liang L Li Li L Wang Hui H Wang Peng P Zhao Meixun M Zhang Chuanlun L CL

Applied and environmental microbiology 20110902 21

The South China Sea (SCS) is the largest marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, yet little is known about archaeal distributions and TEX₈₆-based temperatures in this unique oceanic setting. Here we report findings of abundances in both core lipids (CL) and intact polar lipids (IPL) of Archaea from surface water (CL only) and core-top sediments from different regions of the SCS. TEX₈₆-derived temperatures were also calculated for these samples. The surface water had extremely low abundances o ...[more]

PMID: 21890672

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Project description:Archaea are widespread in marine sediments and play important roles in the cycling of sedimentary organic carbon. However, factors controlling the distribution of archaea in marine sediments are not well understood. Here we investigated benthic archaeal communities over glacial-interglacial cycles in the northern South China Sea and evaluated their responses to sediment organic matter sources and inter-species interactions. Archaea in sediments deposited during the interglacial period Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 1 (Holocene) were significantly different from those in sediments deposited in MIS 2 and MIS 3 of the Last Glacial Period when terrestrial input to the South China Sea was enhanced based on analysis of the long-chain n-alkane C31. The absolute archaeal 16S rRNA gene abundance in subsurface sediments was highest in MIS 2, coincident with high sedimentation rates and high concentrations of total organic carbon. Soil Crenarchaeotic Group (SCG; Nitrososphaerales) species, the most abundant ammonia-oxidizing archaea in soils, increased dramatically during MIS 2, likely reflecting transport of terrestrial archaea during glacial periods with high sedimentation rates. Co-occurrence network analyses indicated significant association of SCG archaea with benthic deep-sea microbes such as Bathyarchaeota and Thermoprofundales in MIS 2 and MIS 3, suggesting potential interactions among these archaeal groups. Meanwhile, Thermoprofundales abundance was positively correlated with total organic carbon (TOC), along with n-alkane C31 and sedimentation rate, indicating that Thermoprofundales may be particularly important in processing of organic carbon in deep-sea sediments. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the composition of heterotrophic benthic archaea in the South China Sea may be influenced by terrestrial organic input in tune with glacial-interglacial cycles, suggesting a plausible link between global climate change and microbial population dynamics in deep-sea marine sediments.

Dataset Information

Spatial variations in archaeal lipids of surface water and core-top sediments in the South china sea and their implications for paleoclimate studies.

Publications

Spatial variations in archaeal lipids of surface water and core-top sediments in the South china sea and their implications for paleoclimate studies.

Similar Datasets

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