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Investigating the microbial ecology of coastal hotspots of marine nitrogen fixation in the western North Atlantic.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wang, S; Tang, W; Delage, E; Gifford, S; Whitby, H; González, AG; Eveillard, D; Planquette, H; Cassar, N
Published in: Scientific reports
March 2021

Variation in the microbial cycling of nutrients and carbon in the ocean is an emergent property of complex planktonic communities. While recent findings have considerably expanded our understanding of the diversity and distribution of nitrogen (N2) fixing marine diazotrophs, knowledge gaps remain regarding ecological interactions between diazotrophs and other community members. Using quantitative 16S and 18S V4 rDNA amplicon sequencing, we surveyed eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbial communities from samples collected in August 2016 and 2017 across the Western North Atlantic. Leveraging and significantly expanding an earlier published 2015 molecular dataset, we examined microbial community structure and ecological co-occurrence relationships associated with intense hotspots of N2 fixation previously reported at sites off the Southern New England Shelf and Mid-Atlantic Bight. Overall, we observed a negative relationship between eukaryotic diversity and both N2 fixation and net community production (NCP). Maximum N2 fixation rates occurred at sites with high abundances of mixotrophic stramenopiles, notably Chrysophyceae. Network analysis revealed such stramenopiles to be keystone taxa alongside the haptophyte diazotroph host Braarudosphaera bigelowii and chlorophytes. Our findings highlight an intriguing relationship between marine stramenopiles and high N2 fixation coastal sites.

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Published In

Scientific reports

DOI

EISSN

2045-2322

ISSN

2045-2322

Publication Date

March 2021

Volume

11

Issue

1

Start / End Page

5508
 

Citation

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Chicago
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Wang, S., Tang, W., Delage, E., Gifford, S., Whitby, H., González, A. G., … Cassar, N. (2021). Investigating the microbial ecology of coastal hotspots of marine nitrogen fixation in the western North Atlantic. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 5508. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84969-1
Wang, Seaver, Weiyi Tang, Erwan Delage, Scott Gifford, Hannah Whitby, Aridane G. González, Damien Eveillard, Hélène Planquette, and Nicolas Cassar. “Investigating the microbial ecology of coastal hotspots of marine nitrogen fixation in the western North Atlantic.Scientific Reports 11, no. 1 (March 2021): 5508. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84969-1.
Wang S, Tang W, Delage E, Gifford S, Whitby H, González AG, et al. Investigating the microbial ecology of coastal hotspots of marine nitrogen fixation in the western North Atlantic. Scientific reports. 2021 Mar;11(1):5508.
Wang, Seaver, et al. “Investigating the microbial ecology of coastal hotspots of marine nitrogen fixation in the western North Atlantic.Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, Mar. 2021, p. 5508. Epmc, doi:10.1038/s41598-021-84969-1.
Wang S, Tang W, Delage E, Gifford S, Whitby H, González AG, Eveillard D, Planquette H, Cassar N. Investigating the microbial ecology of coastal hotspots of marine nitrogen fixation in the western North Atlantic. Scientific reports. 2021 Mar;11(1):5508.

Published In

Scientific reports

DOI

EISSN

2045-2322

ISSN

2045-2322

Publication Date

March 2021

Volume

11

Issue

1

Start / End Page

5508