Surviving anoxia in marine sediments: The metabolic response of ubiquitous benthic foraminifera (Ammonia tepida).

ABSTRACT: High input of organic carbon and/or slowly renewing bottom waters frequently create periods with low dissolved oxygen concentrations on continental shelves and in coastal areas; such events can have strong impacts on benthic ecosystems. Among the meiofauna living in these environments, benthic foraminifera are often the most tolerant to low oxygen levels. Indeed, some species are able to survive complete anoxia for weeks to months. One known mechanism for this, observed in several species, is denitrification. For other species, a state of highly reduced metabolism, essentially a state of dormancy, has been proposed but never demonstrated. Here, we combined a 4 weeks feeding experiment, using 13C-enriched diatom biofilm, with correlated TEM and NanoSIMS imaging, plus bulk analysis of concen

SUBMITTER: LeKieffre C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5451005 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature