Dataset Information

Global abundance of planktonic heterotrophic protists in the deep ocean.

ABSTRACT: The dark ocean is one of the largest biomes on Earth, with critical roles in organic matter remineralization and global carbon sequestration. Despite its recognized importance, little is known about some key microbial players, such as the community of heterotrophic protists (HP), which are likely the main consumers of prokaryotic biomass. To investigate this microbial component at a global scale, we determined their abundance and biomass in deepwater column samples from the Malaspina 2010 circumnavigation using a combination of epifluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. HP were ubiquitously found at all depths investigated down to 4000?m. HP abundances decreased with depth, from an average of 72±19 cells?ml(-1) in mesopelagic waters down to 11±1 cells?ml(-1) in bathypelagic waters, whereas their total biomass decreased from 280±46 to 50±14?pg C?ml(-1). The parameters that better explained the variance of HP abundance were depth and prokaryote abundance, and to lesser extent oxygen concentration. The generally good correlation with prokaryotic abundance suggested active grazing of HP on prokaryotes. On a finer scale, the prokaryote:HP abundance ratio varied at a regional scale, and sites with the highest ratios exhibited a larger contribution of fungi molecular signal. Our study is a step forward towards determining the relationship between HP and their environment, unveiling their importance as players in the dark ocean's microbial food web.

SUBMITTER: Pernice MC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4331586 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Global abundance of planktonic heterotrophic protists in the deep ocean.

Pernice Massimo C MC Forn Irene I Gomes Ana A Lara Elena E Alonso-Sáez Laura L Arrieta Jesus M JM del Carmen Garcia Francisca F Hernando-Morales Victor V MacKenzie Roy R Mestre Mireia M Sintes Eva E Teira Eva E Valencia Joaquin J Varela Marta M MM Vaqué Dolors D Duarte Carlos M CM Gasol Josep M JM Massana Ramon R

The ISME journal 20141007 3

The dark ocean is one of the largest biomes on Earth, with critical roles in organic matter remineralization and global carbon sequestration. Despite its recognized importance, little is known about some key microbial players, such as the community of heterotrophic protists (HP), which are likely the main consumers of prokaryotic biomass. To investigate this microbial component at a global scale, we determined their abundance and biomass in deepwater column samples from the Malaspina 2010 circum ...[more]

PMID: 25290506

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Project description:Diatoms are a major component of phytoplankton, believed to be responsible for around 20% of the annual primary production on Earth. As abundant and ubiquitous organisms, they are known to establish biotic interactions with many other members of plankton. Through analyses of cooccurrence networks derived from the Tara Oceans expedition that take into account both biotic and abiotic factors in shaping the spatial distributions of species, we show that only 13% of diatom pairwise associations are driven by environmental conditions; the vast majority are independent of abiotic factors. In contrast to most other plankton groups, on a global scale, diatoms display a much higher proportion of negative correlations with other organisms, particularly toward potential predators and parasites, suggesting that their biogeography is constrained by top-down pressure. Genus-level analyses indicate that abundant diatoms are not necessarily the most connected and that species-specific abundance distribution patterns lead to negative associations with other organisms. In order to move forward in the biological interpretation of cooccurrence networks, an open-access extensive literature survey of diatom biotic interactions was compiled, of which 18.5% were recovered in the computed network. This result reveals the extent of what likely remains to be discovered in the field of planktonic biotic interactions, even for one of the best-known organismal groups.IMPORTANCE Diatoms are key phytoplankton in the modern ocean that are involved in numerous biotic interactions, ranging from symbiosis to predation and viral infection, which have considerable effects on global biogeochemical cycles. However, despite recent large-scale studies of plankton, we are still lacking a comprehensive picture of the diversity of diatom biotic interactions in the marine microbial community. Through the ecological interpretation of both inferred microbial association networks and available knowledge on diatom interactions compiled in an open-access database, we propose an ecosystems approach for exploring diatom interactions in the ocean.

Dataset Information

Global abundance of planktonic heterotrophic protists in the deep ocean.

Publications

Global abundance of planktonic heterotrophic protists in the deep ocean.

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