Camila Fernandez

Microbial community production, respiration, and structure of the microbial food web of an ecosystem in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean

increased from winter (101 ± 24 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 ) to spring (153 ± 27 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 ) and then decreased from spring to late summer (44 ± 18 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 ). DCR rates increased from winter (47 ± 18 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 ) to spring (97 ± 7 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 ) and then decreased from spring to late summer (50 ± 7 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 ). The onset of stratification depended on latitude as well as on the presence of mesoscale structures (eddies), and this largely contributed to the variability of GCP. The trophic status of the POMME area was defined as net autotrophic, with a mean annual net community production rate of +38 ± 18 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 , exhibiting a seasonal variation from +2 ± 20 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 to +57 ± 20 mmol O2 m 2 d 1 . This study highlights that small organisms (picoautotrophs, nanoautotrophs, and bacteria) are the main organisms contributing to biological fluxes throughout the year and that episodic blooms of microphytoplankton are related to mesoscale structures.

Spatial distribution of heterotrophic bacteria in the northeast Atlantic (POMME study area) during spring 2001

[1]xa0Heterotrophic bacteria abundances, total chlorophyll a (Tchla), and nitrate concentrations were determined during the spring cruise (23 March–13 April 2001) of the Programme Ocean Multidisciplinaire Meso Echelle (POMME) in the northeastern Atlantic between 39.0°–44.5°N and 16.6°–20.6°W. Sampling covered a grid of 81 stations regularly spaced. Three bacteria subpopulations (HNA1, HNA2, and LNA) were resolved by flow cytometry on the basis of their nucleic acid content, after staining with SYBR Green II (molecular probes), and by their scatter properties. The bacterial distribution was investigated down to 600 m depth. HNA2 were essentially observed in the upper 200 m and were not present at all stations. HNA1 dominated in the surface layer and were positively linked to Tchla. This relationship exhibited some heterogeneity due to the latitudinal evolution of the phytoplankton bloom and the seasonal thermocline formation already occurring in the south. In contrast, LNA dominated the bacterial subgroups below 100 m depth, and their distribution bore the fingerprint of the geostrophic current field and the mesoscale features identified in the study area, i.e., cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies and frontal structures.

Biological N2O fixation in the Eastern South Pacific Ocean and marine cyanobacterial cultures.

Despite the importance of nitrous oxide (N2O) in the global radiative balance and atmospheric ozone chemistry, its sources and sinks within the Earth’s system are still poorly understood. In the ocean, N2O is produced by microbiological processes such as nitrification and partial denitrification, which account for about a third of global emissions. Conversely, complete denitrification (the dissimilative reduction of N2O to N2) under suboxic/anoxic conditions is the only known pathway accountable for N2O consumption in the ocean. In this work, it is demonstrated that the biological assimilation of N2O could be a significant pathway capable of directly transforming this gas into particulate organic nitrogen (PON). N2O is shown to be biologically fixed within the subtropical and tropical waters of the eastern South Pacific Ocean, under a wide range of oceanographic conditions and at rates ranging from 2 pmol N L−1 d− to 14.8 nmol N L−1 d−1 (mean ± SE of 0.522±1.06 nmol N L−1 d−1, nu200a=u200a93). Additional assays revealed that cultured cyanobacterial strains of Trichodesmium (H-9 and IMS 101), and Crocosphaera (W-8501) have the capacity to directly fix N2O under laboratory conditions; suggesting that marine photoautotrophic diazotrophs could be using N2O as a substrate. This metabolic capacity however was absent in Synechococcus (RCC 1029). The findings presented here indicate that assimilative N2O fixation takes place under extreme environmental conditions (i.e., light, nutrient, oxygen) where both autotrophic (including cyanobacteria) and heterotrophic microbes appear to be involved. This process could provide a globally significant sink for atmospheric N2O which in turn affects the oceanic N2O inventory and may also represent a yet unexplored global oceanic source of fixed N.

Correction to “Spatial distribution of heterotrophic bacteria in the northeast Atlantic (POMME study area) during spring 2001”

[1] Heterotrophic bacteria abundances, total chlorophyll a (Tchla), and nitrate concentrations were determined during the spring cruise (23 March–13 April 2001) of the Programme Océan Multidisciplinaire Méso Echelle (POMME) in the northeastern Atlantic between 39.0 –44.5 N and 16.6 –20.6 W. Sampling covered a grid of 81 stations regularly spaced. Three bacteria subpopulations (HNA1, HNA2, and LNA) were resolved by flow cytometry on the basis of their nucleic acid content, after staining with SYBR Green II (molecular probes), and by their scatter properties. The bacterial distribution was investigated down to 600 m depth. HNA2 were essentially observed in the upper 200 m and were not present at all stations. HNA1 dominated in the surface layer and were positively linked to Tchla. This relationship exhibited some heterogeneity due to the latitudinal evolution of the phytoplankton bloom and the seasonal thermocline formation already occurring in the south. In contrast, LNA dominated the bacterial subgroups below 100mdepth, and their distribution bore the fingerprint of the geostrophic current field and the mesoscale features identified in the study area, i.e., cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies and frontal structures.