Seasonal and stable heterotrophic guilds drive Arctic benthic microbiome functioning across polar day and night.

ABSTRACT: The remineralization of organic matter by benthic bacteria is an essential process in the marine carbon cycle. In polar regions, strong variation in daylength causes pronounced seasonality in primary productivity, but the responses of sedimentary bacteria to these fluctuations are not well understood. We investigated the seasonal dynamics of benthic bacterial communities from an Arctic fjord and found a partitioning of the communities into seasonally responsive and stable guilds. We separately analyzed the fractions of cells in the porewater and those loosely and firmly attached to sand grains through 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, cell counting, rate measurements, and geochemical analyses. The porewater and loosely attached bacterial communities showed a dynamic response in compositio

SUBMITTER: Moncada C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12503162 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature