1
|
Ghio AJ, Hilborn ED. Cyanobacterial blooms, iron, and environmental pollutants. Biometals 2024; 37:577-586. [PMID: 37910342 PMCID: PMC11209704 DOI: 10.1007/s10534-023-00553-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
Iron determines the abundance and diversity of life and controls primary production in numerous aqueous environments. Over the past decades, the availability of this metal in natural waters has decreased. Iron deficiency can apply a selective pressure on microbial aquatic communities. Each aquatic organism has their individual requirements for iron and pathways for metal acquisition, despite all having access to the common pool of iron. Cyanobacteria, a photosynthesizing bacterium that can accumulate and form so-called 'algal blooms', have evolved strategies to thrive in such iron-deficient aqueous environments where they can outcompete other organisms in iron acquisition in diverse microbial communities. Metabolic pathways for iron acquisition employed by cyanobacteria allow it to compete successfully for this essential nutrient. By competing more effectively for requisite iron, cyanobacteria can displace other species and grow to dominate the microbial population in a bloom. Aquatic resources are damaged by a diverse number of environmental pollutants that can further decrease metal availability and result in a functional deficiency of available iron. Pollutants can also increase iron demand. A pollutant-exposed microbe is compelled to acquire further metal critical to its survival. Even in pollutant-impacted waters, cyanobacteria enjoy a competitive advantage and cyanobacterial dominance can be the result. We propose that cyanobacteria have a distinct competitive advantage over many other aquatic microbes in polluted, iron-poor environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Ghio
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
- Human Studies Facility, 104 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
2
|
Fourquez M, Janssen DJ, Conway TM, Cabanes D, Ellwood MJ, Sieber M, Trimborn S, Hassler C. Chasing iron bioavailability in the Southern Ocean: Insights from Phaeocystis antarctica and iron speciation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadf9696. [PMID: 37379397 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf9696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
Dissolved iron (dFe) availability limits the uptake of atmospheric CO2 by the Southern Ocean (SO) biological pump. Hence, any change in bioavailable dFe in this region can directly influence climate. On the basis of Fe uptake experiments with Phaeocystis antarctica, we show that the range of dFe bioavailability in natural samples is wider (<1 to ~200% compared to free inorganic Fe') than previously thought, with higher bioavailability found near glacial sources. The degree of bioavailability varied regardless of in situ dFe concentration and depth, challenging the consensus that sole dFe concentrations can be used to predict Fe uptake in modeling studies. Further, our data suggest a disproportionately major role of biologically mediated ligands and encourage revisiting the role of humic substances in influencing marine Fe biogeochemical cycling in the SO. Last, we describe a linkage between in situ dFe bioavailability and isotopic signatures that, we anticipate, will stimulate future research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marion Fourquez
- Aix Marseille Univ., Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UMR 110, Marseille 13288, France
- University of Geneva, Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - David J Janssen
- Department Surface Waters, Eawag-Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
| | - Tim M Conway
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA
| | - Damien Cabanes
- University of Geneva, Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
| | - Michael J Ellwood
- Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Matthias Sieber
- College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA
- Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Scarlett Trimborn
- Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven 27570, Germany
| | - Christel Hassler
- University of Geneva, Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
- Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
- School of Architecture, Civil, and Environmental Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Sion 1951, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Petrou K. Phytoplankton-Bacteria Interactions 1.0. Microorganisms 2023; 11:1188. [PMID: 37317162 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11051188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Phytoplankton and bacteria regulate many essential functions in aquatic ecosystems [...].
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katherina Petrou
- School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Iron and manganese co-limit the growth of two phytoplankton groups dominant at two locations of the Drake Passage. Commun Biol 2022; 5:207. [PMID: 35246600 PMCID: PMC8897415 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03148-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
While it has been recently demonstrated that both iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) control Southern Ocean (SO) plankton biomass, how in particular Mn governs phytoplankton species composition remains yet unclear. This study, for the first time, highlights the importance of Mn next to Fe for growth of two key SO phytoplankton groups at two locations in the Drake Passage (West and East). Even though the bulk parameter chlorophyll a indicated Fe availability as main driver of both phytoplankton assemblages, the flow cytometric and microscopic analysis revealed FeMn co-limitation of a key phytoplankton group at each location: at West the dominant diatom Fragilariopsis and one subgroup of picoeukaryotes, which numerically dominated the East community. Hence, the limitation by both Fe and Mn and their divergent requirements among phytoplankton species and groups can be a key factor for shaping SO phytoplankton community structure. Iron and manganese play an important role in phytoplankton biomass control, but the exact effect of these elements on species composition has remained unknown. Conducting phytoplankton incubation experiments at two Drake Passage sites, we demonstrate how iron and manganese regulate phytoplankton community structure.
Collapse
|