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Abstract. Heterotrophic prokaryotic production (BP) was studied in the western tropical South Pacific (WTSP) using the leucine technique, revealing spatial and temporal variability within the region. Integrated over the euphotic zone, BP ranged from 58 to 120mg Cm−2d−1 within the Melanesian Archipelago, and from 31 to 50mg Cm−2d−1 within the western subtropical gyre. The collapse of a bloom was followed during 6 days in the south of Vanuatu using a Lagrangian sampling strategy. During this period, rapid evolution was observed in the three main parameters influencing the metabolic state: BP, primary production (PP) and bacterial growth efficiency. With N2 fixation being one of the most important fluxes fueling new production, we explored relationships between BP, PP and N2 fixation rates over the WTSP. The contribution of N2 fixation rates to bacterial nitrogen demand ranged from 3 to 81%. BP variability was better explained by the variability of N2 fixation rates than by that of PP in surface waters of the Melanesian Archipelago, which were characterized by N-depleted layers and low DIP turnover times (TDIP<100h). This is consistent with the fact that nitrogen was often one of the main factors controlling BP on short timescales, as shown using enrichment experiments, followed by dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) near the surface and labile organic carbon deeper in the euphotic zone. However, BP was more significantly correlated with PP, but not with N2 fixation rates where DIP was more available (TDIP>100h), deeper in the Melanesian Archipelago, or within the entire euphotic zone in the subtropical gyre. The bacterial carbon demand to gross primary production ratio ranged from 0.75 to 3.1. These values are discussed in the framework of various assumptions and conversion factors used to estimate this ratio, including the methodological errors, the daily variability of BP, the bacterial growth efficiency and one bias so far not considered: the ability for Prochlorococcus to assimilate leucine in the dark.
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Phospholipid turnover rates suggest that bacterial community growth rates in the open ocean are systematically underestimated
Abstract Heterotrophic bacteria in the surface ocean play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and the magnitude of this role depends on their growth rates. Although methods for determining bacterial community growth rates based on incorporation of radiolabeled thymidine and leucine are widely accepted, they are based on a number of assumptions and simplifications. We sought to independently assess these methods by comparing bacterial growth rates to turnover rates of bacterial membranes using previously published methods in a range of open‐ocean settings. We found that turnover rates for heterotrophic bacterial phospholipids averaged 0.80 ± 0.35 d−1. This was supported by independent measurements of turnover rates of a membrane‐bound pigment in photoheterotrophic bacteria, bacteriochlorophyll a(0.85 ± 0.09 d−1). By contrast, bacterial growth rates measured by uptake of radiolabeled thymidine and leucine were 0.12 ± 0.08 d−1, well within the range expected from the literature. We explored whether the discrepancies between phospholipid turnover rates and bacterial growth rate could be explained by membrane recycling/remodeling and other factors, but were left to conclude that the radiolabeled thymidine and leucine incorporation methods substantially underestimated actual bacterial growth rates. We use a simple model to show that the faster bacterial growth rates we observed can be accommodated within the constraints of the microbial carbon budget if bacteria are smaller than currently thought, grow with greater efficiency, or some combination of these two factors.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1756254
- PAR ID:
- 10455282
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Limnology and Oceanography
- Volume:
- 65
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 0024-3590
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1876-1890
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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