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Biogeographic partitioning of Southern Ocean microorganisms revealed by metagenomics

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 20:44 authored by Wilkins, D, Lauro, FM, Williams, TJ, Demaere, MZ, Brown, MV, Hoffman, JM, Andrews-Pfannkoch, C, Mcquaid, JB, Riddle, MJ, Stephen Rintoul, Cavicchioli, R
We performed a metagenomic survey (6.6 Gbp of 454 sequence data) of Southern Ocean (SO) microorganisms during the austral summer of 2007–2008, examining the genomic signatures of communities across a latitudinal transect from Hobart (44°S) to the Mertz Glacier, Antarctica (67°S). Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of the SAR11 and SAR116 clades and the cyanobacterial genera Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus were strongly overrepresented north of the Polar Front (PF). Conversely, OTUs of the Gammaproteobacterial Sulfur Oxidizer-EOSA-1 (GSO-EOSA-1) complex, the phyla Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia and order Rhodobacterales were characteristic of waters south of the PF. Functions enriched south of the PF included a range of transporters, sulfur reduction and histidine degradation to glutamate, while branched-chain amino acid transport, nucleic acid biosynthesis and methionine salvage were overrepresented north of the PF. The taxonomic and functional characteristics suggested a shift of primary production from cyanobacteria in the north to eukaryotic phytoplankton in the south, and reflected the different trophic statuses of the two regions. The study provides a new level of understanding about SO microbial communities, describing the contrasting taxonomic and functional characteristics of microbial assemblages either side of the PF.

History

Publication title

Environmental Microbiology

Volume

15

Issue

5

Pagination

1318-1333

ISSN

1462-2920

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment and management of coastal and estuarine ecosystems

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