Metabolic tuning of a stable microbial community in the surface oligotrophic Indian Ocean revealed by integrated meta-omics

Abstract

Understanding the mechanisms, structuring microbial communities in oligotrophic ocean surface waters remains a major ecological endeavor. Functional redundancy and metabolic tuning are two mechanisms that have been proposed to shape microbial response to environmental forcing. However, little is known about their roles in the oligotrophic surface ocean due to less integrative characterization of community taxonomy and function. Here, we applied an integrated meta-omics-based approach, from genes to proteins, to investigate the microbial community of the oligotrophic northern Indian Ocean. Insignificant spatial variabilities of both genomic and proteomic compositions indicated a stable microbial community that was dominated by Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, and SAR11. However, fine tuning of some metabolic functions that are mainly driven by salinity and temperature was observed. Intriguingly, a tuning divergence occurred between metabolic potential and activity in response to different environmental perturbations. Our results indicate that metabolic tuning is an important mechanism for sustaining the stability of microbial communities in oligotrophic oceans. In addition, integrated meta-omics provides a powerful tool to comprehensively understand microbial behavior and function in the ocean.

An insight into the prokaryotic diversity from a polymetallic nodule-rich region in the Central Indian Ocean Basin using next generation sequencing approach

“…Next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques have deepened our understanding of microbial diversity, evolution, and their functional potential ( Sunagawa et al, 2015 ; Xie et al, 2022 ). There have been a few reports of microbial diversity studies from the Indian Ocean.…”

“…Another study reported the occurrence of the Prochlorococcus , and Synechococcus accounting for 90% of the total cyanobacterial reads ( Díez et al, 2016 ). A stable microbial community dominated majorly by SAR11, Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus was observed in the surface waters of the Northern Indian Ocean ( Xie et al, 2022 ). Another study reported a higher abundance of the organisms belonging to the Epsilon-proteobacteria group from the Edmon hydrothermal vent on Central Indian Ridge ( Hoek et al, 2003 ).…”

Diversity, community structure, and quantity of eukaryotic phytoplankton revealed using 18S rRNA and plastid 16S rRNA genes and pigment markers: a case study of the Pearl River Estuary

“…Marine phytoplankton are responsible for about half of our planet’s annual net primary production (Falkowski et al 2004 ; Field et al 1998 ). The tremendous importance of phytoplankton in ecology and biogeochemical processes (e.g., cycling of nitrogen, phosphorus, silicate and iron, driving carbon export to deep waters) has triggered the development of chemical and molecular methodologies to characterize their diversity and community composition across time and space (Abaychi and Riley 1979 ; Chen et al 2022 ; Gao et al 2020 ; Maki et al 2017 ; Treusch et al 2012 ; Xie et al 2022 ). Relative to classical methodologies based on morphological identification and enumeration (Huang et al 2021 ), chemotaxonomy of accessory pigments by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) enables the rapid quantification of major groups of phytoplankton [e.g., diatoms, dinophytes, cyanobacteria, chlorophytes, haplotypes, cryptophytes (Everitt et al 1990 ; Mackey et al 1996 ; Wright et al 1991 ].…”