Latitudinal gradients in degradation of marine dissolved organic carbon.

ABSTRACT: Heterotrophic microbial communities cycle nearly half of net primary productivity in the ocean, and play a particularly important role in transformations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The specific means by which these communities mediate the transformations of organic carbon are largely unknown, since the vast majority of marine bacteria have not been isolated in culture, and most measurements of DOC degradation rates have focused on uptake and metabolism of either bulk DOC or of simple model compounds (e.g. specific amino acids or sugars). Genomic investigations provide information about the potential capabilities of organisms and communities but not the extent to which such potential is expressed. We tested directly the capabilities of heterotrophic microbial communities in surface

SUBMITTER: Arnosti C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3247214 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature