Chemotaxis toward phytoplankton drives organic matter partitioning among marine bacteria.

ABSTRACT: The microenvironment surrounding individual phytoplankton cells is often rich in dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can attract bacteria by chemotaxis. These "phycospheres" may be prominent sources of resource heterogeneity in the ocean, affecting the growth of bacterial populations and the fate of DOM. However, these effects remain poorly quantified due to a lack of quantitative ecological frameworks. Here, we used video microscopy to dissect with unprecedented resolution the chemotactic accumulation of marine bacteria around individual Chaetoceros affinis diatoms undergoing lysis. The observed spatiotemporal distribution of bacteria was used in a resource utilization model to map the conditions under which competition between different bacterial groups favors chemotaxis. The model pre

SUBMITTER: Smriga S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4760798 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature