Analysis of archaeal core ether lipids using Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS): Exploring a new prospect for the study of biomarkers in geobiology

Quantifying Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation by Synechococcus Using Bulk and Single-Cell Mass Spectrometry: A Comparative Study

Microorganisms drive most of the major biogeochemical cycles in the ocean, but the rates at which individual species assimilate and transform key elements is generally poorly quantified. One of these important elements is nitrogen, with its availability limiting primary production across a large proportion of the ocean. Nitrogen uptake by marine microbes is typically quantified using bulk-scale approaches, such as Elemental Analyzer-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (EA-IRMS), which averages uptake over entire communities, masking microbial heterogeneity. However, more recent techniques, such as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), allow for elucidation of assimilation rates at the scale at which they occur: the single-cell level. Here, we combine and compare the application of bulk (EA-IRMS) and single-cell approaches (NanoSIMS and Time-of-Flight-SIMS) for quantifying the assimilation of inorganic nitrogen by the ubiquitous marine primary producer Synechococcus. We aimed to contrast the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques and showcase their complementarity. Our results show that the average assimilation of 15N by Synechococcus differed based on the technique used: values derived from EA-IRMS were consistently higher than those derived from SIMS, likely due to a combination of previously reported systematic depletion as well as differences in sample preparation. However, single-cell approaches offered additional layers of information, whereby NanoSIMS allowed for the quantification of the metabolic heterogeneity among individual cells and ToF-SIMS enabled identification of nitrogen assimilation into peptides. We suggest that this coupling of stable isotope-based approaches has great potential to elucidate the metabolic capacity and heterogeneity of microbial cells in natural environments.

Analysis of hopanes and steranes in single oil-bearing fluid inclusions using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS)

Steranes and hopanes are organic biomarkers used as indicators for the first appearance of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria on Earth. Oil-bearing fluid inclusions may provide a contamination-free source of Precambrian biomarkers, as the oil has been secluded from the environment since the formation of the inclusion. However, analysis of biomarkers in single oil-bearing fluid inclusions, which is often necessary due to the presence of different generations of inclusions, has not been possible due to the small size of most inclusions. Here, we have used time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to monitor in real time the opening of individual inclusions trapped in hydrothermal veins of fluorite and calcite and containing oil from Ordovician source rocks. Opening of the inclusions was performed by using a focused C(60)(+) ion beam and the in situ content was precisely analysed for C(27)-C(29) steranes and C(29)-C(32) hopanes using Bi(3)(+) as primary ions. The capacity to unambiguously detect these biomarkers in the picoliter amount of crude oil from a single, normal-sized (15-30 mum in diameter) inclusion makes the approach promising in the search of organic biomarkers for life's early evolution on Earth.