Differential effects of nitrate, ammonium, and urea as N sources for microbial communities in the North Pacific Ocean

Shilova, I. N.; Mills, M. M.; Robidart, J.C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9805-3570; Turk-Kubo, K. A.; Björkman, K. M.; Kolber, Z.; Rapp, I.; van Dijken, G. L.; Church, M. J.; Arrigo, K. R.; Achterberg, E. P.; Zehr, J. P.. 2017 Differential effects of nitrate, ammonium, and urea as N sources for microbial communities in the North Pacific Ocean. Limnology and Oceanography, 62 (6). 2550-2574. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10590

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lno.10590

Abstract/Summary

Nitrogen (N) is the major limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth and productivity in large parts of the world's oceans. Differential preferences for specific N substrates may be important in controlling phytoplankton community composition. To date, there is limited information on how specific N substrates influence the composition of naturally occurring microbial communities. We investigated the effect of nitrate ( math formula), ammonium ( math formula), and urea on microbial and phytoplankton community composition (cell abundances and 16S rRNA gene profiling) and functioning (photosynthetic activity, carbon fixation rates) in the oligotrophic waters of the North Pacific Ocean. All N substrates tested significantly stimulated phytoplankton growth and productivity. Urea resulted in the greatest (>300%) increases in chlorophyll a (<0.06 μg L−1 and ∼0.19 μg L−1 in the control and urea addition, respectively) and productivity (<0.4 μmol C L−1 d−1 and ∼1.4 μmol C L−1 d−1 in the control and urea addition, respectively) at two experimental stations, largely due to increased abundances of Prochlorococcus (Cyanobacteria). Two abundant clades of Prochlorococcus, High Light I and II, demonstrated similar responses to urea, suggesting this substrate is likely an important N source for natural Prochlorococcus populations. In contrast, the heterotrophic community composition changed most in response to math formula. Finally, the time and magnitude of response to N amendments varied with geographic location, likely due to differences in microbial community composition and their nutrient status. Our results provide support for the hypothesis that changes in N supply would likely favor specific populations of phytoplankton in different oceanic regions and thus, affect both biogeochemical cycles and ecological processes.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10590
ISSN:	00243590
Date made live:	27 Feb 2018 10:20 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519399

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.10590

ISSN:

00243590

Date made live:

27 Feb 2018 10:20 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519399