Eukaryotic and cyanobacterial communities associated with marine snow particles in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea

Regitze B. C. Lundgreen; Cornelia Jaspers; Sachia Jo Traving; Daniel J Ayala; Fabien Lombard; Hans-Peter Grossart; Torkel G Nielsen; Peter Munk; Lasse Riemann

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-45146-7

Eukaryotic and cyanobacterial communities associated with marine snow particles in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea

Regitze B. C. Lundgreen, Cornelia Jaspers, Sachia Jo Traving, Daniel J Ayala, Fabien Lombard, Hans-Peter Grossart, Torkel G Nielsen, Peter Munk, Lasse Riemann

8 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Marine snow aggregates represent heterogeneous agglomerates of dead and living organic matter. Composition is decisive for their sinking rates, and thereby for carbon flux to the deep sea. For oligotrophic oceans, information on aggregate composition is particularly sparse. To address this, the taxonomic composition of aggregates collected from the subtropical and oligotrophic Sargasso Sea (Atlantic Ocean) was characterized by 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing. Taxonomy assignment was aided by a collection of the contemporary plankton community consisting of 75 morphologically and genetically identified plankton specimens. The diverse rRNA gene reads of marine snow aggregates, not considering Trichodesmium puffs, were dominated by copepods (52%), cnidarians (21%), radiolarians (11%), and alveolates (8%), with sporadic contributions by cyanobacteria, suggesting a different aggregate composition than in eutrophic regions. Composition linked significantly with sampling location but not to any measured environmental parameters or plankton biomass composition. Nevertheless, indicator and network analyses identified key roles of a few rare taxa. This points to complex regulation of aggregate composition, conceivably affected by the environment and plankton characteristics. The extent to which this has implications for particle densities, and consequently for sinking rates and carbon sequestration in oligotrophic waters, needs further interrogation.

Original language	English
Article number	8891
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	9
Number of pages	12
ISSN	2045-2322
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45146-7
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2019

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title = "Eukaryotic and cyanobacterial communities associated with marine snow particles in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea",

abstract = "Marine snow aggregates represent heterogeneous agglomerates of dead and living organic matter. Composition is decisive for their sinking rates, and thereby for carbon flux to the deep sea. For oligotrophic oceans, information on aggregate composition is particularly sparse. To address this, the taxonomic composition of aggregates collected from the subtropical and oligotrophic Sargasso Sea (Atlantic Ocean) was characterized by 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing. Taxonomy assignment was aided by a collection of the contemporary plankton community consisting of 75 morphologically and genetically identified plankton specimens. The diverse rRNA gene reads of marine snow aggregates, not considering Trichodesmium puffs, were dominated by copepods (52%), cnidarians (21%), radiolarians (11%), and alveolates (8%), with sporadic contributions by cyanobacteria, suggesting a different aggregate composition than in eutrophic regions. Composition linked significantly with sampling location but not to any measured environmental parameters or plankton biomass composition. Nevertheless, indicator and network analyses identified key roles of a few rare taxa. This points to complex regulation of aggregate composition, conceivably affected by the environment and plankton characteristics. The extent to which this has implications for particle densities, and consequently for sinking rates and carbon sequestration in oligotrophic waters, needs further interrogation.",

author = "Lundgreen, {Regitze B. C.} and Cornelia Jaspers and Traving, {Sachia Jo} and Ayala, {Daniel J} and Fabien Lombard and Hans-Peter Grossart and Nielsen, {Torkel G} and Peter Munk and Lasse Riemann",

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T1 - Eukaryotic and cyanobacterial communities associated with marine snow particles in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea

AU - Lundgreen, Regitze B. C.

AU - Jaspers, Cornelia

AU - Traving, Sachia Jo

AU - Ayala, Daniel J

AU - Lombard, Fabien

AU - Grossart, Hans-Peter

AU - Nielsen, Torkel G

AU - Munk, Peter

AU - Riemann, Lasse

PY - 2019/12/1

Y1 - 2019/12/1

N2 - Marine snow aggregates represent heterogeneous agglomerates of dead and living organic matter. Composition is decisive for their sinking rates, and thereby for carbon flux to the deep sea. For oligotrophic oceans, information on aggregate composition is particularly sparse. To address this, the taxonomic composition of aggregates collected from the subtropical and oligotrophic Sargasso Sea (Atlantic Ocean) was characterized by 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing. Taxonomy assignment was aided by a collection of the contemporary plankton community consisting of 75 morphologically and genetically identified plankton specimens. The diverse rRNA gene reads of marine snow aggregates, not considering Trichodesmium puffs, were dominated by copepods (52%), cnidarians (21%), radiolarians (11%), and alveolates (8%), with sporadic contributions by cyanobacteria, suggesting a different aggregate composition than in eutrophic regions. Composition linked significantly with sampling location but not to any measured environmental parameters or plankton biomass composition. Nevertheless, indicator and network analyses identified key roles of a few rare taxa. This points to complex regulation of aggregate composition, conceivably affected by the environment and plankton characteristics. The extent to which this has implications for particle densities, and consequently for sinking rates and carbon sequestration in oligotrophic waters, needs further interrogation.

AB - Marine snow aggregates represent heterogeneous agglomerates of dead and living organic matter. Composition is decisive for their sinking rates, and thereby for carbon flux to the deep sea. For oligotrophic oceans, information on aggregate composition is particularly sparse. To address this, the taxonomic composition of aggregates collected from the subtropical and oligotrophic Sargasso Sea (Atlantic Ocean) was characterized by 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing. Taxonomy assignment was aided by a collection of the contemporary plankton community consisting of 75 morphologically and genetically identified plankton specimens. The diverse rRNA gene reads of marine snow aggregates, not considering Trichodesmium puffs, were dominated by copepods (52%), cnidarians (21%), radiolarians (11%), and alveolates (8%), with sporadic contributions by cyanobacteria, suggesting a different aggregate composition than in eutrophic regions. Composition linked significantly with sampling location but not to any measured environmental parameters or plankton biomass composition. Nevertheless, indicator and network analyses identified key roles of a few rare taxa. This points to complex regulation of aggregate composition, conceivably affected by the environment and plankton characteristics. The extent to which this has implications for particle densities, and consequently for sinking rates and carbon sequestration in oligotrophic waters, needs further interrogation.

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DO - 10.1038/s41598-019-45146-7

M3 - Journal article

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SN - 2045-2322

VL - 9

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

M1 - 8891

ER -

Eukaryotic and cyanobacterial communities associated with marine snow particles in the oligotrophic Sargasso Sea

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