Jiaxing Liu,Huangchen Zhang,Xiang Ding,Linbin Zhou,Zhixin Ke,Jiajun Li,Yehui Tan
Diazotrophic organisms are vulnerable to physical dynamic processes. However, the interactions and mechanisms of multiple dynamic processes on nitrogen fixation remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate one of these interactions; we conducted field investigations and bioassay experiments in the northeastern South China Sea, which faces the Kuroshio current and coastal upwelling. Using 15 N tracer and molecular biology methods, we found that the eastern Guangdong upwelling, having high phosphorus and a lower N:P ratio, had higher nitrogen fixation rates as well as a higher abundance of diazotrophic cyanobacteria Trichodesmium spp. and UCYN-A compared with nonupwelling area. Additionally, a higher abundance of diazotrophic cyanobacteria occurred near the bottom of the euphotic zone along the shelf break that was affected by the Kuroshio current. Field incubation experiments confirmed that phosphorus increased the nitrogen fixation rates and stimulated the growth of cyanobacteria in the area affected by upwelling. Taken together, our results indicated that warmer surface water with a high N:P ratio likely mixed with upwelled phosphorus-rich water containing diazotrophic cyanobacteria, which were transported by the intensified Kuroshio current under the influence of the 2015/16 El Niño . This mixing then triggered a high abundance of diazotrophic cyanobacteria. These findings provide new insights into how the interaction of multiple dynamic processes can regulate nitrogen fixation.
Xiuping Liu,Ningdong Xie,Jiaqian Li,Mohan Bai,Biswarup Sen,Guangyi Wang
Upwelling, a common oceanographic event, can make great contributions, directly or indirectly, to deep ocean carbon sequestration. However, the extent of its contribution indirectly depends on the composition of microbial communities and the interactions between bacterioplankton and other microorganisms. This study provides insights into the influence of upwelling on bacterioplankton at the whole community level and predicts their potential functional profiles. The α diversity of the bacterial community exhibited no significant differences between the upwelling area and non-upwelling area, while the community composition varied clearly in different habitats. Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidota, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria were the five dominant phyla in all of the habitats. The proportions of members of Firmicutes were increased whereas Cyanobacteria were reduced in upwelling water. However, the percentage of Cyanobacteria was enhanced in the upwelling deep water. Functional genes that are involved in signal transductions, which belong to environmental information processing, were more active in upwelling surface water than in the other habitats. Closer and more complex relationships between bacterioplankton and microbial eukaryotes were found in the upwelling area, which altered with the variation of the external environmental conditions. Cyanobacteria showed a positive correlation with microbial eukaryotes in upwelling deep water. Combined with the high proportions of Cyanobacteria in upwelling deep water, this might be strong evidence that Cyanobacteria contribute to a deep ocean carbon sink. Overall, our study reveals the impacts of upwelling on the bacterial community composition, metabolic functions, and microbial interactions, which are significant to further understanding the carbon sink effects of upwelling.Keywords:upwelling;bacterioplankton;signaling function;interactions;carbon sequestration