Diel transcriptional response of a California Current plankton microbiome to light, low iron, and enduring viral infection

Funding Number

DGE-1144086

Author's Department

Biology Department

Find in your Library

http://oceanrep.geomar.de/50026/1/s41396-019-0472-2.pdf

All Authors

B. C. Kolody; J. P. McCrow; L. Zeigler Allen; F. O. Aylward; K. M. Fontanez; Ahmed Moustafa; M. Moniruzzaman; F. P. Chavez; C. A. Scholin; E. E. Allen; A. Z. Worden; E. F. Delong; A. E. Allen

Document Type

Research Article

Publication Title

ISME Journal

Publication Date

11-1-2019

doi

10.1038/s41396-019-0472-2

Abstract

Phytoplankton and associated microbial communities provide organic carbon to oceanic food webs and drive ecosystem dynamics. However, capturing those dynamics is challenging. Here, an in situ, semi-Lagrangian, robotic sampler profiled pelagic microbes at 4 h intervals over ~2.6 days in North Pacific high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll waters. We report on the community structure and transcriptional dynamics of microbes in an operationally large size class (>5 μm) predominantly populated by dinoflagellates, ciliates, haptophytes, pelagophytes, diatoms, cyanobacteria (chiefly Synechococcus), prasinophytes (chiefly Ostreococcus), fungi, archaea, and proteobacteria. Apart from fungi and archaea, all groups exhibited 24-h periodicity in some transcripts, but larger portions of the transcriptome oscillated in phototrophs. Periodic photosynthesis-related transcripts exhibited a temporal cascade across the morning hours, conserved across diverse phototrophic lineages. Pronounced silica:nitrate drawdown, a high flavodoxin to ferredoxin transcript ratio, and elevated expression of other Fe-stress markers indicated Fe-limitation. Fe-stress markers peaked during a photoperiodically adaptive time window that could modulate phytoplankton response to seasonal Fe-limitation. Remarkably, we observed viruses that infect the majority of abundant taxa, often with total transcriptional activity synchronized with putative hosts. Taken together, these data reveal a microbial plankton community that is shaped by recycled production and tightly controlled by Fe-limitation and viral activity.

First Page

2817

Last Page

2833

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