Discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical Cuban stony corals
© 2020, The Author(s). Coral reef health depends on an intricate relationship among the coral animal, photosynthetic algae, and a complex microbial community. The holobiont can impact the nutrient balance of their hosts amid an otherwise oligotrophic environment, including by cycling physiologically...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133627 |
| _version_ | 1826188044395347968 |
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| author | Babbin, Andrew R Tamasi, Tyler Dumit, Diana Weber, Laura Rodríguez, María Victoria Iglesias Schwartz, Sarah L Armenteros, Maickel Wankel, Scott D Apprill, Amy |
| author_facet | Babbin, Andrew R Tamasi, Tyler Dumit, Diana Weber, Laura Rodríguez, María Victoria Iglesias Schwartz, Sarah L Armenteros, Maickel Wankel, Scott D Apprill, Amy |
| author_sort | Babbin, Andrew R |
| collection | MIT |
| description | © 2020, The Author(s). Coral reef health depends on an intricate relationship among the coral animal, photosynthetic algae, and a complex microbial community. The holobiont can impact the nutrient balance of their hosts amid an otherwise oligotrophic environment, including by cycling physiologically important nitrogen compounds. Here we use 15N-tracer experiments to produce the first simultaneous measurements of ammonium oxidation, nitrate reduction, and nitrous oxide (N2O) production among five iconic species of reef-building corals (Acropora palmata, Diploria labyrinthiformis, Orbicella faveolata, Porites astreoides, and Porites porites) in the highly protected Jardines de la Reina reefs of Cuba. Nitrate reduction is present in most species, but ammonium oxidation is low potentially due to photoinhibition and assimilatory competition. Coral-associated rates of N2O production indicate a widespread potential for denitrification, especially among D. labyrinthiformis, at rates of ~1 nmol cm−2 d−1. In contrast, A. palmata displays minimal active nitrogen metabolism. Enhanced rates of nitrate reduction and N2O production are observed coincident with dark net respiration periods. Genomes of bacterial cultures isolated from multiple coral species confirm that microorganisms with the ability to respire nitrate anaerobically to either dinitrogen gas or ammonium exist within the holobiont. This confirmation of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms by coral-associated microorganisms sheds new light on coral and reef productivity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:53:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/133627 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T07:53:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1336272021-10-28T05:07:36Z Discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical Cuban stony corals Babbin, Andrew R Tamasi, Tyler Dumit, Diana Weber, Laura Rodríguez, María Victoria Iglesias Schwartz, Sarah L Armenteros, Maickel Wankel, Scott D Apprill, Amy © 2020, The Author(s). Coral reef health depends on an intricate relationship among the coral animal, photosynthetic algae, and a complex microbial community. The holobiont can impact the nutrient balance of their hosts amid an otherwise oligotrophic environment, including by cycling physiologically important nitrogen compounds. Here we use 15N-tracer experiments to produce the first simultaneous measurements of ammonium oxidation, nitrate reduction, and nitrous oxide (N2O) production among five iconic species of reef-building corals (Acropora palmata, Diploria labyrinthiformis, Orbicella faveolata, Porites astreoides, and Porites porites) in the highly protected Jardines de la Reina reefs of Cuba. Nitrate reduction is present in most species, but ammonium oxidation is low potentially due to photoinhibition and assimilatory competition. Coral-associated rates of N2O production indicate a widespread potential for denitrification, especially among D. labyrinthiformis, at rates of ~1 nmol cm−2 d−1. In contrast, A. palmata displays minimal active nitrogen metabolism. Enhanced rates of nitrate reduction and N2O production are observed coincident with dark net respiration periods. Genomes of bacterial cultures isolated from multiple coral species confirm that microorganisms with the ability to respire nitrate anaerobically to either dinitrogen gas or ammonium exist within the holobiont. This confirmation of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms by coral-associated microorganisms sheds new light on coral and reef productivity. 2021-10-27T19:53:53Z 2021-10-27T19:53:53Z 2021 2021-09-13T18:10:22Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133627 en 10.1038/S41396-020-00845-2 The ISME Journal Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Springer Science and Business Media LLC ISME Journal |
| spellingShingle | Babbin, Andrew R Tamasi, Tyler Dumit, Diana Weber, Laura Rodríguez, María Victoria Iglesias Schwartz, Sarah L Armenteros, Maickel Wankel, Scott D Apprill, Amy Discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical Cuban stony corals |
| title | Discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical Cuban stony corals |
| title_full | Discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical Cuban stony corals |
| title_fullStr | Discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical Cuban stony corals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical Cuban stony corals |
| title_short | Discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical Cuban stony corals |
| title_sort | discovery and quantification of anaerobic nitrogen metabolisms among oxygenated tropical cuban stony corals |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133627 |
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