Abstract
To better understand the temporal and spatial dynamics of Prochlorococcus populations, and how these populations co-vary with the physical environment, we followed monthly changes in the abundance of five ecotypes—two high-light adapted and three low-light adapted—over a 5-year period in coordination with the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) and Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) programs. Ecotype abundance displayed weak seasonal fluctuations at HOT and strong seasonal fluctuations at BATS. Furthermore, stable ‘layered’ depth distributions, where different Prochlorococcus ecotypes reached maximum abundance at different depths, were maintained consistently for 5 years at HOT. Layered distributions were also observed at BATS, although winter deep mixing events disrupted these patterns each year and produced large variations in ecotype abundance. Interestingly, the layered ecotype distributions were regularly reestablished each year after deep mixing subsided at BATS. In addition, Prochlorococcus ecotypes each responded differently to the strong seasonal changes in light, temperature and mixing at BATS, resulting in a reproducible annual succession of ecotype blooms. Patterns of ecotype abundance, in combination with physiological assays of cultured isolates, confirmed that the low-light adapted eNATL could be distinguished from other low-light adapted ecotypes based on its ability to withstand temporary exposure to high-intensity light, a characteristic stress of the surface mixed layer. Finally, total Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus dynamics were compared with similar time series data collected a decade earlier at each location. The two data sets were remarkably similar—testimony to the resilience of these complex dynamic systems on decadal time scales.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Michael Lomas and the BATS team for sample collection at Bermuda, and David Karl, Matthew Church, and the HOT team for sample collection at Hawaii. We also thank Angel White and Ricardo Letelier for assistance with deriving solar flux data and attenuation coefficients. Norm Nelson and David Court generously provided light data from the Bermuda Bio Optics Program. We thank Daniele Veneziano for advice on statistical analysis. This work was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NSF STC Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
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Malmstrom, R., Coe, A., Kettler, G. et al. Temporal dynamics of Prochlorococcus ecotypes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. ISME J 4, 1252–1264 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2010.60
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2010.60
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