Biological production and decay of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O2-) likely have significant effects on the cycling of trace metals and carbon in marine systems. In this study, extracellular production rates of H2O2 and O2- were determined for five species of marine diatoms in the presence and absence of light. Production of both ROS was measured in parallel by suspending cells on filters and measuring the ROS downstream using chemiluminescence probes. In addition, the ability of these organisms to break down O2- and H2O2 was examined by measuring recovery of O2- and H2O2 added to the influent medium. O2- production rates ranged from undetectable to 7.3 × 10−16 mol cell−1 h−1, while H2O2 production rates ranged from undetectable to 3.4 × 10−16 mol cell−1 h−1. Results suggest that extracellular ROS production occurs through a variety of pathways even amongst organisms of the same genus. Thalassiosira spp. produced more O2- in light than dark, even when the organisms were killed, indicating that O2- is produced via a passive photochemical process on the cell surface. The ratio of H2O2 to O2- production rates was consistent with production of H2O2 solely through dismutation of O2- for T. oceanica, while T. pseudonana made much more H2O2 than O2-. T. weissflogii only produced H2O2 when stressed or killed. P. tricornutum cells did not make cell-associated ROS, but did secrete H2O2-producing substances into the growth medium. In all organisms, recovery rates for killed cultures (94–100% H2O2; 10–80% O2-) were consistently higher than those for live cultures (65–95% H2O2; 10–50% O2-). While recovery rates for killed cultures in H2O2 indicate that nearly all H2O2 was degraded by active cell processes, O2- decay appeared to occur via a combination of active and passive processes. Overall, this study shows that the rates and pathways for ROS production and decay vary greatly among diatom species, even between those that are closely related, and as a function of light conditions.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), which include the superoxide radical (O 2-) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2), are thought to be generated mostly through photochemical reactions and biological activity in seawater and can influence trace metal speciation in the ocean. This study reports the results of an intercomparison of two methods to measure particle-generated [O 2-concentrations that ranged from undetectable to 0.02 nM, with production rates less than 0.6 nM hr-1 and decay rate coefficients from 0.003 to 0.014 s-1. The southern California Current Ecosystem had particle-generated O 2 concentrations that ranged from undetectable to 0.05 nM, with production rates up to 4.7 nM hr-1 and decay rate coefficients from 0.006 to 0.017 s-1. H 2 O 2 concentrations were measured by chemiluminescence detection, using dark incubations of unfiltered water samples to simultaneously determine production and decay rates. H 2 O 2 concentrations at Station ALOHA ranged from 7 to 88 nM. Dark production rates and decay rate coefficients were low (mostly <1.5 nM hr-1 and <0.03 hr-1 , respectively); higher values were detected when biota were pre-concentrated with net tows. These rates of ROS production are lower than those reported by previous studies in other regions of the Pacific Ocean, but could still be significant compared to photochemical production.

SignificanceThe vertical distribution of phytoplankton cells and chlorophyll concentrations throughout the sunlit water column is rarely uniform. In many ocean regions, chlorophyll concentrations peak in distinct and persistent layers deep below the surface called subsurface chlorophyll maximum layers (SCMLs). SCML formation is hypothesized to reflect the consequences of phytoplankton light/macronutrient colimitation, behavior, and/or photoacclimation. We discovered unexpectedly persistent and widespread phytoplankton iron limitation and iron/light colimitation in SCMLs of the California Current and at the edge of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre using shipboard incubations, metatranscriptomics, and biogeochemical proxies. These results suggest that interactions and feedbacks between iron and light availability play an important and previously unrecognized role in controlling the productivity and biogeochemical dynamics of SCMLs.

Growth of the prevalent marine organism Trichodesmium can be limited by iron in natural and laboratory settings. This study investigated the iron uptake mechanisms that the model organism T. erythraeum IMS101 uses to acquire iron from inorganic iron and iron associated with the weak ligand complex, ferric citrate. IMS101 was observed to employ two different iron uptake mechanisms: superoxide-mediated reduction of inorganic iron in the surrounding milieu and a superoxide-independent uptake system for ferric citrate complexes. While the detailed pathway of ferric citrate utilization remains to be elucidated, transport of iron from this complex appears to involve reduction and/or exchange of the iron out of the complex prior to uptake, either at the outer membrane of the cell or within the periplasmic space. Various iron uptake strategies may allow Trichodesmium to effectively scavenge iron in oligotrophic ocean environments.

The ability to acquire diverse and abundant forms of iron would be expected to confer a survival advantage in the marine environment, where iron is scarce. Marine bacteria are known to use siderophores and inorganic iron, but their ability to use heme, an abundant intracellular iron form, has only been examined preliminarily. Microscilla marina, a cultured relative of a bacterial group frequently found on marine particulates, was used as a model organism to examine heme uptake. Searches of the genome revealed analogs to known heme transport proteins, and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis of these genes showed that they were expressed and upregulated under iron stress and during growth on heme. M. marina was found to take up heme-bound iron and could grow on heme as a sole iron source, supporting the genetic evidence for heme transport. Similar putative heme transport components were identified in the genomes of diverse marine bacteria. These systems were found in the genomes of many bacteria thought to be particle associated but were lacking in known free-living organisms (e.g., Pelagibacter ubique and marine cyanobacteria). This distribution of transporters is consistent with the hydrophobic, light-sensitive nature of heme, suggesting that it is primarily available on phytoplankton or detritus or in nutrient-rich environments.

Trichodesmium colonies contain an abundant microbial consortium that is likely to play a role in nutrient cycling within the colony. This study used laboratory cultures of Trichodesmium and two genome-sequenced strains of bacteria typical of Trichodesmium-associated microbes to develop an understanding of the cycling of iron, a potentially limiting micronutrient, within Trichodesmium colonies. We found that the ferric siderophores desferrioxamine B and aerobactin were not readily bioavailable to Trichodesmium, relative to ferric chloride or citrate-associated iron. In contrast, the representative bacterial strains we studied were able to acquire iron from all of the iron sources, implying that naturally occurring Trichodesmium-associated bacteria may be capable of utilizing a more diverse array of iron sources than Trichodesmium. From the organism-specific uptake data collected in this study, a theoretical Trichodesmium colony was designed to model whole colony iron uptake. The bacteria accounted for most (> 70%) of the iron acquired by the colony, highlighting the importance of determining organism-specific uptake in a complex environment. Our findings suggest that, although they may share the same micro-environment, Trichodesmium and its colony-associated microbial cohort may differ substantially in terms of iron acquisition strategy.

The bioavailability and utilization of porphyrin-bound iron, specifically heme, by marine microorganisms have rarely been examined. This study used Ruegeria sp. strain TrichCH4B as a model organism to study heme acquisition by a member of the Roseobacter clade. Analogs of known heme transporter proteins were found within the Ruegeria sp. TrichCH4B genome. The identified heme uptake and utilization system appears to be functional, as the heme genes were upregulated under iron stress, the bacterium could grow on ferricporphyrin complexes as the sole iron source, and internalization of 55 Fe from ferric protoporphyrin IX was observed. The potential ability to utilize heme in the Roseobacter clade appears to be common, as half of the isolates in the RoseoBase database were found to have a complete heme uptake system. A degenerate primer set was designed and successfully used to identify the putative heme oxygenase gene (hmus) in the roseobacter heme uptake system from diverse nonenriched marine environments. This study found that members of the Roseobacter clade are capable of utilizing heme as an iron source and that this capability may be present in all types of marine environments. The results of this study add a new perspective to the current picture of iron cycling in marine systems, whereby relatively refractory intracellular pools of heme-bound iron may be taken up quickly and directly reincorporated into living bacteria without previous degradation or the necessity of a siderophore intermediate.

Subsurface chlorophyll maximum layers (SCMLs) are nearly ubiquitous in stratified water columns and exist at horizontal scales ranging from the submesoscale to the extent of oligotrophic gyres. These layers of heightened chlorophyll and/or phytoplankton concentrations are generally thought to be a consequence of a balance between light energy from above and a limiting nutrient flux from below, typically nitrate. Here we present multiple lines of evidence demonstrating that iron (Fe) limits or with light co-limits phytoplankton communities in SCMLs along a primary productivity gradient from coastal to oligotrophic offshore waters in the southern California Current ecosystem. SCML phytoplankton responded markedly to added Fe or Fe/light in experimental incubations, biogeochemical proxies for Fe limitation peaked in SCML waters, and transcripts of diatom and picoeukaryote Fe stress genes were strikingly abundant in SCML metatranscriptomes. A 40-year time-series indicates that SCMLs in this region display a persistent biogeochemical signal of diatom Fe deficiency during the spring and summer months, particularly within inshore and transition zones. In addition, the spatial extent of SCML Fe limitation has markedly increased during the first decade of the 21st century. We conclude that phytoplankton Fe limitation and Fe/light co-limitation at SCMLs is an important constraint on primary productivity and carbon export in the California Current and potentially SCMLs worldwide.