Urea is a potentially important nitrogen source for phytoplankton during red tide formation in Isahaya Bay, Japan

Takasu, Hiroyuki; Miyake, Yujin; Shiragaki, Tomohiro; Yasui, Mai; Ito, Maiko; Sakata, Haruna; Tajiri, Yutaro

doi:10.1007/s10872-022-00640-x

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The increasing input of urea into the ocean could significantly change the community composition of marine phytoplankton, which will have a profound impact on ocean ecosystems and global carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles [17][18][19] . For instance, it has been reported that dinoflagellates and diatoms benefit from increased urea concentrations in some coastal waters, which might result in occurrence of harmful toxic algal blooms [20][21][22][23] . However, so far, a comprehensive understanding of the impact of increasing amounts of urea on the community composition and competitive advantage of marine phytoplankton is still limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cyanobacteria using urea as a nitrogen source can overcome acid stress

Huang

SUN

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Cyanobacteria play essential roles in marine primary productivity and the global carbon/nitrogen biogeochemical cycle. Increasing urea emissions and decreasing pH value in the ocean caused by human activities are changing the community structure and competitive interactions of marine phytoplankton, which will have a profound impact on the marine ecosystem and global biogeochemical cycle. Here, we report that a coastal Synechococcus strain exhibited better adaptability to extreme low pH conditions when it uses urea as nitrogen source compared to using other inorganic nitrogen. Very low pH values can also alleviate damage by high concentrations of urea to cyanobacteria. Urease plays an essential role in this process. Synechococcus mutants with inactivated urease cannot adapt well to highly acidic environments, while heterologous expression of urease homologs from acidophilic Helicobacter pylori can help the cyanobacterial mutants to restore their adaptability to acidification. A TARA Oceans database analysis indicates that the distribution of cyanobacteria with the urease gene is closely related to estuaries and nearshore waters with potentially high urea inputs. In summary, we report for the first time that the use of urea and adaptation to acid stress are highly interactive in marine phytoplankton. Future work should determine whether this interaction is likely to allow phytoplankton that utilize urea to have a competitive advantage in the future ocean with high urea emissions and environmentally relevant pH scenarios.

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