Nitrogen cycling during an Arctic bloom : from chemolithotrophy to nitrogen assimilation

In the Arctic, phytoplankton blooms are recurring phenomena occurring during the spring-summer seasons and influenced by the strong polar seasonality. Bloom dynamics are affected by nutrient availability, especially nitrogen, which is the main limiting nutrient in the Arctic. This study aimed to inv...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Laso-Pérez, Rafael, Rivas-Santisteban, Juan, Fernandez-Gonzalez, Nuria, Mundy, Christopher J., Tamames, Javier, Pedrós-Alió, Carlos
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad Francisco de Vitoria
Repositorio:DDFV. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Francisco de Vitoria
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddfv.ufv.es:10641/6835
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10641/6835
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:ammonia oxidation
arctic microbiology
nitrogen cycling
nitrogen metabolism
phytoplankton bloom
Microbiology
Virology
SDG 13 - Climate Action
SDG 14 - Life Below Water
Journal Article
Yes
yes
Descripción
Sumario:In the Arctic, phytoplankton blooms are recurring phenomena occurring during the spring-summer seasons and influenced by the strong polar seasonality. Bloom dynamics are affected by nutrient availability, especially nitrogen, which is the main limiting nutrient in the Arctic. This study aimed to investigate the changes in an Arctic microbial community using omics approaches during a phytoplankton bloom focusing on the nitrogen cycle. Using metagenomic and metatranscriptomic samples from the Dease Strait (Canada) from March to July (2014), we reconstructed 176 metagenome-assembled genomes. Bacteria dominated the microbial community, although archaea reached up to 25% of metagenomic abundance in early spring, when Nitrososphaeria archaea actively expressed genes associated with ammonia oxidation to nitrite (amt, amo, nirK). The resulting nitrite was presumably further oxidized to nitrate by a Nitrospinota bacterium that highly expressed a nitrite oxidoreductase gene (nxr). Since May, the constant increase in chlorophyll a indicated the occurrence of a phytoplankton bloom, promoting the successive proliferation of different groups of chemoorganotrophic bacteria (Bacteroidota, Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria). These bacteria showed different strategies to obtain nitrogen, whether it be from organic or inorganic sources, according to the expression patterns of genes encoding transporters for nitrogen compounds. In contrast, during summer, the chemolithotrophic organisms thriving during winter reduced their relative abundance and the expression of their catabolic genes. Based on our functional analysis, we see a transition from a community where nitrogen-based chemolitotrophy plays a relevant role to a chemoorganotrophic community based on the carbohydrates released during the phytoplankton bloom, where different groups seem to specialize in different nitrogen sources.