Global distribution patterns of marine nitrogen-fixers by imaging and molecular methods - Sorbonne Université
Journal Articles Nature Communications Year : 2021

Global distribution patterns of marine nitrogen-fixers by imaging and molecular methods

Rachel A Foster
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  • PersonId : 1109267

Abstract

Nitrogen fixation has a critical role in marine primary production, yet our understanding of marine nitrogen-fixers (diazotrophs) is hindered by limited observations. Here, we report a quantitative image analysis pipeline combined with mapping of molecular markers for mining >2,000,000 images and >1300 metagenomes from surface, deep chlorophyll maximum and mesopelagic seawater samples across 6 size fractions (<0.2-2000 μm). We use this approach to characterise the diversity, abundance, biovolume and distribution of symbiotic, colony-forming and particle-associated diazotrophs at a global scale. We show that imaging and PCR-free molecular data are congruent. Sequence reads indicate diazotrophs are detected from the ultrasmall bacterioplankton (<0.2 μm) to mesoplankton (180-2000 μm) communities, while images predict numerous symbiotic and colony-forming diazotrophs (>20 µm). Using imaging and molecular data, we estimate that polyploidy can substantially affect gene abundances of symbiotic versus colony-forming diazotrophs. Our results support the canonical view that larger diazotrophs (>10 μm) dominate the tropical belts, while unicellular cyanobacterial and non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs are globally distributed in surface and mesopelagic layers. We describe co-occurring diazotrophic lineages of different lifestyles and identify high-density regions of diazotrophs in the global ocean. Overall, we provide an update of marine diazotroph biogeographical diversity and present a new bioimagingbioinformatic workflow.
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Dates and versions

hal-03334117 , version 2 (03-09-2021)
hal-03334117 , version 1 (03-02-2023)

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Juan José Pierella Karlusich, Eric Pelletier, Fabien Lombard, Madeline Carsique, Etienne Dvorak, et al.. Global distribution patterns of marine nitrogen-fixers by imaging and molecular methods. Nature Communications, 2021, 12, pp.4160. ⟨10.1038/s41467-021-24299-y⟩. ⟨hal-03334117v2⟩
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