Diverse diazotrophs are present on sinking particles in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

ABSTRACT: Sinking particles transport carbon and nutrients from the surface ocean into the deep sea and are considered hot spots for bacterial diversity and activity. In the oligotrophic oceans, nitrogen (N₂)-fixing organisms (diazotrophs) are an important source of new N but the extent to which these organisms are present and exported on sinking particles is not well known. Sinking particles were collected every 6 h over a 2-day period using net traps deployed at 150 m in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The bacterial community and composition of diazotrophs associated with individual and bulk sinking particles was assessed using 16S rRNA and nifH gene amplicon sequencing. The bacterial community composition in bulk particles remained remarkably consistent throughout time and space wh

SUBMITTER: Farnelid H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6299005 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature