Publication

Water mass specific genes dominate the Southern Ocean microbiome

2025

Abstract

The Southern Ocean (SO) plays a key role in regulating global biogeochemical cycles and climate, yet microbial genes sustaining its biological activity remain poorly characterized. We introduce a comprehensive SO microbial genes collection from 218 metagenomes sampled during the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition, the majority of which are missing from functional databases. 38% even lack homologs in current reference marine gene catalogs, defining a singular genetic seascape. We show that SO gene assemblages exhibit a common polar signature with the Arctic Ocean while being structured by water masses at the SO-scale. We analyze genomic markers of diverse SO biomes, focusing on adaptations to organic matter consumption in the blooming Mertz polynya and temperature-dependent trace metal utilization by the ubiquist Bacteria Pelagibacter. Our work takes a step towards a more comprehensive understanding of SO’s plankton ecology and evolution, capturing the current state of the unique microbial diversity in this rapidly changing Ocean.

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/9d6a4f2b-87cf-4d03-9fb9-f14076a365b9

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2025

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/9d6a4f2b-87cf-4d03-9fb9-f14076a365b9

About this result

Related concepts (32)

Marine microorganisms

Marine microorganisms are defined by their habitat as microorganisms living in a marine environment, that is, in the saltwater of a sea or ocean or the brackish water of a coastal estuary. A microorganism (or microbe) is any microscopic living organism or virus, that is too small to see with the unaided human eye without magnification. Microorganisms are very diverse. They can be single-celled or multicellular and include bacteria, archaea, viruses and most protozoa, as well as some fungi, algae, and animals, such as rotifers and copepods.

Ocean

The ocean (also known as the sea or the world ocean) is a body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. The term ocean also refers to any of the large bodies of water into which the world ocean is conventionally divided. Distinct names are used to identify five different areas of the ocean: Pacific (the largest), Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic (the smallest). Seawater covers approximately of the planet.

Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean. Since the 1980s, the Southern Ocean has been subject to rapid climate change, which has led to changes in the marine ecosystem.

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Water mass specific genes dominate the Southern Ocean microbiome

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