Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Apr;7(4):508-523.
doi: 10.1038/s41564-022-01090-3. Epub 2022 Apr 1.

Microbial metabolites in the marine carbon cycle

Affiliations
Review

Microbial metabolites in the marine carbon cycle

Mary Ann Moran et al. Nat Microbiol. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

One-quarter of photosynthesis-derived carbon on Earth rapidly cycles through a set of short-lived seawater metabolites that are generated from the activities of marine phytoplankton, bacteria, grazers and viruses. Here we discuss the sources of microbial metabolites in the surface ocean, their roles in ecology and biogeochemistry, and approaches that can be used to analyse them from chemistry, biology, modelling and data science. Although microbial-derived metabolites account for only a minor fraction of the total reservoir of marine dissolved organic carbon, their flux and fate underpins the central role of the ocean in sustaining life on Earth.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Azam, F. et al. The ecological role of water-column microbes. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 10, 257–263 (1983). - DOI
    1. Hansell, D. A. Recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon fractions. Ann. Rev. Mar. Sci. 5, 421–445 (2013). - PubMed - DOI
    1. Weber, L. et al. Extracellular reef metabolites across the protected Jardines de la Reina, Cuba reef system. Front. Mar. Sci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.582161 (2020).
    1. Widner, B., Kido Soule, M. C., Ferrer-González, F. X., Moran, M. A. & Kujawinski, E. B. Quantification of amine-and alcohol-containing metabolites in saline samples using pre-extraction benzoyl chloride derivatization and ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC MS/MS). Anal. Chem. 93, 4809–4817 (2021). - PubMed - DOI
    1. Fogg, G. E. The ecological significance of extracellular products of phytoplankton photosynthesis. Bot. Mar. 26, 3–14 (1983). - DOI

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources