Combined pigment and metatranscriptomic analysis reveals highly synchronized diel patterns of phenotypic light response across domains in the open oligotrophic ocean.

ABSTRACT: Sunlight is the most important environmental control on diel fluctuations in phytoplankton activity, and understanding diel microbial processes is essential to the study of oceanic biogeochemical cycles. Yet, little is known about the in situ temporal dynamics of phytoplankton metabolic activities and their coordination across different populations. We investigated diel orchestration of phytoplankton activity in photosynthesis, photoacclimation, and photoprotection by analyzing pigment and quinone distributions in combination with metatranscriptomes in surface waters of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). We found diel cycles in pigment abundances resulting from the balance of their synthesis and consumption. These dynamics suggest that night represents a metabolic recovery phase, r

SUBMITTER: Becker KW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8027880 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature