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Metabolomics-derived marker metabolites to characterize Phaeocystis pouchetii in natural plankton communities

ABSTRACT:

Phaeocystis pouchetii (Hariot) Lagerheim, 1893 regularly dominates phytoplankton blooms in the Arctic. Through zooplankton grazing and microbial activity, it is considered to be a key resource for the entire marine food web but the actual relevance of biomass transfer to higher trophic levels is still under discussion. Cell physiology and algal nutritional state are suggested to be major factors controlling the observed variability in zooplankton grazing. However, no data have so far yielded insights into the metabolic state of Phaeocystis populations that would allow testing this hypothesis. Therefore, endometabolic markers of different growth phases were determined in laboratory batch cultures using comparative metabolomics and quantified in different phytoplankton blooms in the field. Metabolites, produced during exponential, early and late stationary growth of P. pouchetii were profiled using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Then, metabolites were characterized that correlate with the growth phases using multivariate statistical analysis. Free amino acids characterized exponential growth, whereas the early stationary phase was correlated with sugar alcohols, mono- and disaccharides. In the late stationary phase free fatty acids, sterols and terpenes increased. These marker metabolites were then traced in Phaeocystis blooms during a cruise in the Barents Sea and North Norwegian fjords. About 50 endometabolites of P. pouchetii were detected in natural phytoplankton communities. Their relative abundances at Phaeocystis-dominated stations differed from diatom-dominated stations. Mannitol, scyllo- inositol, 24-methylcholesta-5,22-dien-3β-ol, and several free fatty acids were characteristic for Phaeocystis-dominated blooms. Distinct metabolic profiles were detected in the nutrient- depleted community in the inner Porsangerfjord (<0.5 μM NO3-, <0.1 μM PO4-), with high relative amounts of free mono- and disaccharides indicative for a limited culture. This study, therefore, shows how variable physiology of phytoplankton can alter the metabolic landscape of entire plankton communities.

INSTRUMENT(S): ISQ LT (Thermo)

SUBMITTER: Constanze Kuhlisch

PROVIDER: MTBLS758 | MetaboLights | 2020-06-25

REPOSITORIES: MetaboLights

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			Action	DRS
	MTBLS758	Other
	FILES	Other
	a_MTBLS758_metabolite_profiling_mass_spectrometry.txt	Txt
	i_Investigation.txt	Txt
	m_MTBLS758_metabolite_profiling_mass_spectrometry_v2_maf.tsv	Tabular

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Metabolomics-derived marker metabolites to characterize Phaeocystis pouchetii in natural plankton communities

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