Articles | Volume 19, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5617-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5617-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
14 Dec 2022
Research article |
| 14 Dec 2022
| 14 Dec 2022
Depth-related patterns in microbial community responses to complex organic matter in the western North Atlantic Ocean
Environment, Ecology and Energy Program, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA
John Paul Balmonte
Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA
current address: HADAL and Nordcee, Department of Biology,
University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230, Denmark
Adrienne Hoarfrost
Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA
current address: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia,
Athens, Georgia, 30602, USA
Sherif Ghobrial
Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA
Carol Arnosti
Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA
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The cycling of carbon throughout the ocean is dependent on the balance between phytoplankton productivity and heterotrophic decomposition. Bacteria must produce structurally specific enzymes to degrade specific chemical structures found in organic matter. We found distinct correlations between the organic matter composition, bacterial community structure, and potential enzymatic activities with depth, and found that the structural complexity of organic matter varies with location in the ocean.
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Carbon cycling throughout the ocean is dependent on the balance between phytoplankton productivity and heterotrophic decomposition. Bacteria must produce structurally specific enzymes to degrade specific chemical structures found in organic matter. We found distinct correlations between the organic matter composition, environmental physical/chemical parameters, and enzymatic activities with depth, and found that the structural complexity of organic matter varies with location in the ocean.
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Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
The cycling of carbon throughout the ocean is dependent on the balance between phytoplankton productivity and heterotrophic decomposition. Bacteria must produce structurally specific enzymes to degrade specific chemical structures found in organic matter. We found distinct correlations between the organic matter composition, bacterial community structure, and potential enzymatic activities with depth, and found that the structural complexity of organic matter varies with location in the ocean.
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Short summary
Bacteria use extracellular enzymes to cut large organic matter to sizes small enough for uptake. We compared the enzymatic response of surface, mid-water, and deep-ocean bacteria to complex natural substrates. Bacteria in surface and mid-depth waters produced a much wider range of enzymes than those in the deep ocean and may therefore consume a broader range of organic matter. The extent to which organic matter is recycled by bacteria depends in part on its residence time at different depths.
Bacteria use extracellular enzymes to cut large organic matter to sizes small enough for uptake....
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