Deep ocean microbial communities produce more stable dissolved organic matter through the succession of rare prokaryotes
The microbial carbon pump (MCP) hypothesis suggests that successive transformation of labile dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by prokaryotes produces refractory DOC (RDOC) and contributes to the long-term stability of the deep ocean DOC reservoir. We tested the MCP by exposing surface water from a dee...
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Published in | Science advances Vol. 8; no. 27; p. eabn0035 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
American Association for the Advancement of Science
08.07.2022
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The microbial carbon pump (MCP) hypothesis suggests that successive transformation of labile dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by prokaryotes produces refractory DOC (RDOC) and contributes to the long-term stability of the deep ocean DOC reservoir. We tested the MCP by exposing surface water from a deep convective region of the ocean to epipelagic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic prokaryotic communities and tracked changes in dissolved organic matter concentration, composition, and prokaryotic taxa over time. Prokaryotic taxa from the deep ocean were more efficient at consuming DOC and producing RDOC as evidenced by greater abundance of highly oxygenated molecules and fluorescent components associated with recalcitrant molecules. This first empirical evidence of the MCP in natural waters shows that carbon sequestration is more efficient in deeper waters and suggests that the higher diversity of prokaryotes from the rare biosphere holds a greater metabolic potential in creating these stable dissolved organic compounds. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Present address: Interdisciplinary Environmental Research Centre, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Akademiestraße 6, 09599 Freiberg, Germany. |
ISSN: | 2375-2548 2375-2548 |
DOI: | 10.1126/sciadv.abn0035 |