Response of marine microbes to iron contained in colloids of glacial origin: a Kerguelen Island case study.

ABSTRACT: The trace element iron (Fe) is a major constraint for microbially mediated processes in the Southern Ocean. The accelerated melting of glaciers could present a novel source of Fe, but whether glacial Fe is bioavailable to marine microbes is not known. We investigated the response of marine heterotrophic prokaryotes to Fe contained in colloids (20-200 nm) of glacial origin collected on Kerguelen Island (Southern Ocean). We followed prokaryotic growth in incubation experiments amended with colloids of either glacial or nonglacial origin and determined community composition and the abundance of genes involved in Fe-related processes in metagenomes and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) at the final time point. Prokaryotic taxa belonging to Vibrionaceae and Pseudomonadaceae acco

SUBMITTER: Thoppil R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12445661 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature