Living coccolithophores in the western Pacific Ocean with mesoscale eddies

Living coccolithophores(LCs)are regarded as a group of calcifiers and play important roles in global carbon cycle.This study used microscopic observations of LCs in the western Pacific Ocean to investigate their community structure and biodiversity,especially to test whether local physical traits(mesoscale eddies)could explain their biogeographic distributions during autumn of 2017.The coccolithophore calcite inventory based on carbon-volume transformation was estimated in this study.A total of 28 taxa of coccospheres and 19 types of coccoliths were identified from 161 samples.Gephyrocapsa oceanica was the most predominant species in all the coccolithophore community,followed by Florisphaera profunda,Emiliania huxleyi,Umbilicosphaera sibogae,Gladiolithusflabellatus and Umbellosphaera tenuis.The abundance of coccospheres and coccoliths ranged from 0 to 26.8×10^(3)cells/L and from 0 to 138.5×10^(3)coccoliths/L,averaged at 4.2×10^(3)cells/L and 10.9×10^(3)coccoliths/L,respectively.This study indicated that coccolithophore community in the survey area can be clustered into four groups.Three ecological niches of coccolithophores were characterized by their vertical profiles and multivariate statistical analysis.Coccolithophore abundance and species composition were remarkably different among warm-eddy region,G.oceanica dominated warm-eddy region,while F.profunda dominated warm-eddy and none-eddy region.The average values of estimated particulate inorganic carbon,particulate organic carbon were0.197μg/L and 0.140μg/L,respectively.The current field study widened the dataset of coccolithophores in western Pacific Ocean.

Nitrogen fixation driven by mesoscale eddies and the Kuroshio Current in the northern South China Sea and the East China Sea

N2 fixation rates(NFR,in terms of N)in the northern South China Sea(nSCS)and the East China Sea(ECS)were measured using the acetylene reduction assay in summer and winter,2009.NFR of the surface water ranged from 1.14 nmol/(L·d)to 10.40 nmol/(L·d)(average at(4.89±3.46)nmol/(L·d),n=11)in summer and 0.74 nmol/(L·d)to 29.45 nmol/(L·d)(average at(7.81±8.50)nmol/(L·d),n=15)in winter.Significant spatio-temporal heterogeneity emerged in our study:the anticyclonic eddies(AE)(P<0.01)and the Kuroshio Current(KC)(P<0.05)performed significantly higher NFR than that in the cyclonic eddies or no-eddy area(CEONE),indicating NFR was profoundly influenced by the physical process of the Kuroshio and mesoscale eddies.The depth-integrated N2 fixation rates(INF,in terms of N)ranged from 52.4μmol/(m2·d)to 905.2μmol/(m2·d)(average at(428.9±305.5)μmol/(m2·d),n=15)in the winter.The contribution of surface NFR to primary production(PP)ranged from 1.7%to 18.5%in the summer,and the mean contribution of INF to new primary production(NPP)in the nSCS and ECS were estimated to be 11.0%and 36.7%in the winter.The contribution of INF to NPP(3.0%–93.9%)also decreased from oligotrophic sea toward the eutrophic waters affected by runoffs or the CEONE.Furthermore,we observed higher contributions compared to previous studies,revealing the vital roles of nitrogen fixation in sustaining the carbon pump of the nSCS and ECS.

Expanding Asgard members in the domain of Archaea sheds new light on the origin of eukaryotes

The hypothesis that eukaryotes originated from within the domain Archaea has been strongly supported by recent phylogenomic analyses placing Heimdallarchaeota-Wukongarchaeota branch from the Asgard superphylum as the closest known archaeal sister-group to eukaryotes. However, our understanding is still limited in terms of the relationship between eukaryotes and archaea, as well as the evolution and ecological functions of the Asgard archaea. Here, we describe three previously unknown phylum-level Asgard archaeal lineages, tentatively named Sigyn-, Freyr-and Njordarchaeota. Additional members in Wukongarchaeota and Baldrarchaeota from distinct environments are also reported here, further expanding their ecological roles and metabolic capacities. Comprehensive phylogenomic analyses further supported the origin of eukaryotes within Asgard archaea and a new lineage Njordarchaeota was supposed as the known closest branch with the eukaryotic nuclear host lineage. Metabolic reconstruction suggests that Njordarchaeota may have a heterotrophic lifestyle with capability of peptides and amino acids utilization, while Sigynarchaeota and Freyrarchaeota also have the potentials to fix inorganic carbon via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and degrade organic matters. Additionally, the Ack/Pta pathway for homoacetogenesis and de novo anaerobic cobalamin biosynthesis pathway were found in Freyrarchaeota and Wukongrarchaeota,respectively. Some previously unidentified eukaryotic signature proteins for intracellular membrane trafficking system, and the homologue of mu/sigma subunit of adaptor protein complex, were identified in Freyrarchaeota. This study expands the Asgard superphylum, sheds new light on the evolution of eukaryotes and improves our understanding of ecological functions of the Asgard archaea.