Winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the Arctic Ocean
Extremely low abundance microorganisms (members of the ‘rare biosphere’) are believed to include dormant taxa, which can sporadically become abundant following environmental triggers. Yet, microbial transitions from rare to abundant have seldom been captured in situ, and it is uncertain how widespre...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2014-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00425/full |
| _version_ | 1817987821256835072 |
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| author | Laura eAlonso-Saez Laura eAlonso-Saez Michael eZeder Michael eZeder Tommy eHarding Tommy eHarding Jakob ePernthaler Connie eLovejoy Stefan eBertilsson Carlos ePedrós-Alió |
| author_facet | Laura eAlonso-Saez Laura eAlonso-Saez Michael eZeder Michael eZeder Tommy eHarding Tommy eHarding Jakob ePernthaler Connie eLovejoy Stefan eBertilsson Carlos ePedrós-Alió |
| author_sort | Laura eAlonso-Saez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Extremely low abundance microorganisms (members of the ‘rare biosphere’) are believed to include dormant taxa, which can sporadically become abundant following environmental triggers. Yet, microbial transitions from rare to abundant have seldom been captured in situ, and it is uncertain how widespread these transitions are. A bloom of a single ribotype (≥99% similarity in the 16S ribosomal RNA gene) of a widespread betaproteobacterium (Janthinobacterium sp.) occurred over two weeks in Arctic marine waters. The Janthinobacterium population was not detected microscopically in situ in January and early February, but suddenly appeared in the water column thereafter, eventually accounting for up to 20% of bacterial cells in mid February. During the bloom, this bacterium was detected at open water sites up to 50 km apart, being abundant down to more than 300 meters. This event is one of the largest monospecific bacterial blooms reported in polar oceans. It is also remarkable because Betaproteobacteria are typically found only in low abundance in marine environments. In particular, Janthinobacterium were known from non-marine habitats and had previously been detected only in the rare biosphere of seawater samples, including the polar oceans. The Arctic janthinobacterium formed mucilagenous monolayer aggregates after short (ca. 8 hours) incubations, suggesting that biofilm formation may play a role in maintaining rare bacteria in pelagic marine environments. The spontaneous mass occurrence of this opportunistic rare taxon in polar waters during the energy-limited season extends current knowledge of how and when microbial transitions between rare and abundant occur in the ocean. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:27:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fb1b97854aea49b3bdf739c46615bfd0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:27:00Z |
| publishDate | 2014-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-fb1b97854aea49b3bdf739c46615bfd02022-12-22T02:22:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2014-08-01510.3389/fmicb.2014.00425103462Winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the Arctic OceanLaura eAlonso-Saez0Laura eAlonso-Saez1Michael eZeder2Michael eZeder3Tommy eHarding4Tommy eHarding5Jakob ePernthaler6Connie eLovejoy7Stefan eBertilsson8Carlos ePedrós-Alió9AZTI-TecnaliaUppsala UniversityUniversity of Zurichtechnobiology GmbHUniversité LavalDalhousie UniversityUniversity of ZurichUniversité LavalUppsala UniversityInstitut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasExtremely low abundance microorganisms (members of the ‘rare biosphere’) are believed to include dormant taxa, which can sporadically become abundant following environmental triggers. Yet, microbial transitions from rare to abundant have seldom been captured in situ, and it is uncertain how widespread these transitions are. A bloom of a single ribotype (≥99% similarity in the 16S ribosomal RNA gene) of a widespread betaproteobacterium (Janthinobacterium sp.) occurred over two weeks in Arctic marine waters. The Janthinobacterium population was not detected microscopically in situ in January and early February, but suddenly appeared in the water column thereafter, eventually accounting for up to 20% of bacterial cells in mid February. During the bloom, this bacterium was detected at open water sites up to 50 km apart, being abundant down to more than 300 meters. This event is one of the largest monospecific bacterial blooms reported in polar oceans. It is also remarkable because Betaproteobacteria are typically found only in low abundance in marine environments. In particular, Janthinobacterium were known from non-marine habitats and had previously been detected only in the rare biosphere of seawater samples, including the polar oceans. The Arctic janthinobacterium formed mucilagenous monolayer aggregates after short (ca. 8 hours) incubations, suggesting that biofilm formation may play a role in maintaining rare bacteria in pelagic marine environments. The spontaneous mass occurrence of this opportunistic rare taxon in polar waters during the energy-limited season extends current knowledge of how and when microbial transitions between rare and abundant occur in the ocean.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00425/fullBetaproteobacteriaBiofilmrare biosphereArctic OceanbloomJanthinobacterium |
| spellingShingle | Laura eAlonso-Saez Laura eAlonso-Saez Michael eZeder Michael eZeder Tommy eHarding Tommy eHarding Jakob ePernthaler Connie eLovejoy Stefan eBertilsson Carlos ePedrós-Alió Winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the Arctic Ocean Frontiers in Microbiology Betaproteobacteria Biofilm rare biosphere Arctic Ocean bloom Janthinobacterium |
| title | Winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the Arctic Ocean |
| title_full | Winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the Arctic Ocean |
| title_fullStr | Winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the Arctic Ocean |
| title_full_unstemmed | Winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the Arctic Ocean |
| title_short | Winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the Arctic Ocean |
| title_sort | winter bloom of a rare betaproteobacterium in the arctic ocean |
| topic | Betaproteobacteria Biofilm rare biosphere Arctic Ocean bloom Janthinobacterium |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00425/full |
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