Basin-scale variability of microbial methanol uptake in the Atlantic Ocean

Sargeant, Stephanie L., Colin Murrell, J., Nightingale, Philip D. and Dixon, Joanna L. (2018) Basin-scale variability of microbial methanol uptake in the Atlantic Ocean. Biogeosciences, 15 (16). pp. 5155-5167. ISSN 1726-4170

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Abstract

Methanol is a climate-active gas and the most abundant oxygenated volatile organic compound (OVOC) in the atmosphere and seawater. Marine methylotrophs are aerobic bacteria that utilise methanol from seawater as a source of carbon (assimilation) and/or energy (dissimilation). A few spatially limited studies have previously reported methanol oxidation rates in seawater; however, the basin-wide ubiquity of marine microbial methanol utilisation remains unknown. This study uniquely combines seawater 14C labelled methanol tracer studies with 16S rRNA pyrosequencing to investigate variability in microbial methanol dissimilation and known methanol-utilising bacteria throughout a meridional transect of the Atlantic Ocean between 47°N to 39°S. Microbial methanol dissimilation varied between 0.05 and 1.68nmolL−1h−1 in the top 200m of the Atlantic Ocean and showed significant variability between biogeochemical provinces. The highest rates of methanol dissimilation were found in the northern subtropical gyre (average 0.99±0.41nmolL−1h−1), which were up to 8 times greater than other Atlantic regions. Microbial methanol dissimilation rates displayed a significant inverse correlation with heterotrophic bacterial production (determined using 3H-leucine). Despite significant depth stratification of bacterial communities, methanol dissimilation rates showed much greater variability between oceanic provinces compared to depth. There were no significant differences in rates between samples collected under light and dark environmental conditions. The variability in the numbers of SAR11 (16S rRNA gene sequences) were estimated to explain approximately 50% of the changes in microbial methanol dissimilation rates. We estimate that SAR11 cells in the Atlantic Ocean account for between 0.3% and 59% of the rates of methanol dissimilation in Atlantic waters, compared to <0.01%–2.3% for temperate coastal waters. These results make a substantial contribution to our current knowledge and understanding of the utilisation of methanol by marine microbial communities, but highlight the lack of understanding of in situ methanol production mechanisms.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 13 - climate action,sdg 14 - life below water ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	14 Sep 2018 10:30
Last Modified:	03 Aug 2023 04:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/68285
DOI:	10.5194/bg-15-5155-2018

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