Articles | Volume 22, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2309-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2309-2025
Research article
 | 
19 May 2025
Research article |  | 19 May 2025

The bacteria–protist link as a main route of dissolved organic matter across contrasting productivity areas on the Patagonian Shelf

M. Celeste López-Abbate, John E. Garzón-Cardona, Ricardo Silva, Juan-Carlos Molinero, Laura A. Ruiz-Etcheverry, Ana M. Martínez, Azul S. Gilabert, and Rubén J. Lara

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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Ocean Science (OS).
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Cited articles

Armengol, L., Calbet, A., Franchy, G., Rodríguez-Santos, A., and Hernández-León, S.: Planktonic food web structure and trophic transfer efficiency along a productivity gradient in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean, Sci. Rep., 9, 2044, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-38507-9, 2019. 
Bachi, G., Morelli, E., Gonnelli, M., Balestra, C., Casotti, R., Evangelista, V., Repeta, D. J., and Santinelli, C.: Fluorescent properties of marine phytoplankton exudates and lability to marine heterotrophic prokaryotes degradation, Limnol. Oceanogr., 68, 982–1000, https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12325, 2023. 
Bai, Y., Su, R., Han, X., Zhang, C., and Shi, X.: Investigation of seasonal variability of CDOM fluorescence in the southern Changjiang river estuary by EEM-PARAFAC, Acta Oceanol. Sin., 34, 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0714-8, 2015. 
Baltar, F., Palovaara, J., Unrein, F., Catala, P., Horňák, K., Šimek, K., Vaqué, D., Massana, R., Gasol, J. M., and Pinhassi, J.: Marine bacterial community structure resilience to changes in protist predation under phytoplankton bloom conditions, ISME J., 10, 568–581, https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2015.135, 2016. 
Baña, Z., Ayo, B., Marrasé, C., Gasol, J. M., and Iriberri, J.: Changes in bacterial metabolism as a response to dissolved organic matter modification during protozoan grazing in coastal Cantabrian and Mediterranean waters, Environ. Microbiol., 16, 498–511, https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.12274, 2014. 
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This study explores how microbial dynamics influence the dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool in the Patagonian Shelf. Despite high phytoplankton biomass, selective grazing on fast-growing bacteria led to DOM accumulation, likely due to reduced DOM-consuming bacteria and added egestion compounds. Experiments showed that bacteria not only acted as a carbon sink through mineralization but also transferred assimilated carbon dioxide (CO2) to higher trophic levels.
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