Kinetic modulation of bacterial hydrolases by microbial community structure in coastal waters.

In this study, we hypothesized that shifts in the kinetic parameters of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes may occur as a consequence of seasonal environmental disturbances and would reflect the level of adaptation of the bacterial community to the organic matter of the ecosystem. We measured the activities of enzymes that play a key role in the bacterial growth (leucine aminopeptidase, ß- and α-glucosidases) in surface coastal waters of the Eastern Cantabrian Sea and determined their kinetic parameters by computing kinetic models of distinct complexity. Our results revealed the existence of two clearly distinct enzymatic systems operating at different substrate concentrations: a high-affinity system prevailing at low substrate concentrations and a low-affinity system characteristic of high substrate concentrations. These findings could be the result of distinct functional bacterial assemblages growing concurrently under sharp gradients of high-molecular-weight compounds. We constructed an ecological network based on contemporaneous and time-delayed correlations to explore the associations between the kinetic parameters and the environmental variables. The analysis revealed that the recurring phytoplankton blooms registered throughout the seasonal cycle trigger the wax and wane of those members of the bacterial community able to synthesize and secrete specific enzymes.

Recurrent seasonal changes in bacterial growth efficiency, metabolism and community composition in coastal waters.

The microbial response to environmental changes in coastal waters of the eastern Cantabrian Sea was explored for four years by analysing a broad set of environmental variables along with bacterial community metabolism and composition. A recurrent seasonal cycle emerged, consisting of two stable periods, characterized by low bacterial metabolic activity (winter) from October to March, and high bacterial metabolic activity (summer) from May to August. These two contrasting periods were linked by short transition periods in April (TA ) and September (TS ). The phylogenetic groups Alphaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were dominant during winter and summer respectively, and their recurrent alternation was mainly driven by the bloom of eukaryotic phytoplankton before TA and the bloom of prokaryotic phytoplankton before TS . Bacterial growth efficiency remained high and stable during the winter and summer periods but dropped during the two short transition periods. Our results suggest that bacterial growth efficiency should be considered a very resilient property that reflects different stages in the adaptation of the bacterial community composition to the environmental changes occurring throughout the seasonal cycle in this coastal ecosystem.

Imbalanced nutrient recycling in a warmer ocean driven by differential response of extracellular enzymatic activities.

Ocean oligotrophication concurrent with warming weakens the capacity of marine primary producers to support marine food webs and act as a CO2 sink, and is believed to result from reduced nutrient inputs associated to the stabilization of the thermocline. However, nutrient supply in the oligotrophic ocean is largely dependent on the recycling of organic matter. This involves hydrolytic processes catalyzed by extracellular enzymes released by bacteria, which temperature dependence has not yet been evaluated. Here, we report a global assessment of the temperature-sensitivity, as represented by the activation energies (Ea ), of extracellular ß-glucosidase (ßG), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) enzymatic activities, which enable the uptake by bacteria of substrates rich in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, respectively. These Ea were calculated from two different approaches, temperature experimental manipulations and a space-for-time substitution approach, which generated congruent results. The three activities showed contrasting Ea in the subtropical and tropical ocean, with ßG increasing the fastest with warming, followed by LAP, while AP showed the smallest increase. The estimated activation energies predict that the hydrolysis products under projected warming scenarios will have higher C:N, C:P and N:P molar ratios than those currently generated, and suggest that the warming of oceanic surface waters leads to a decline in the nutrient supply to the microbial heterotrophic community relative to that of carbon, particularly so for phosphorus, slowing down nutrient recycling and contributing to further ocean oligotrophication.

Release and consumption of D-amino acids during growth of marine prokaryotes.

Analysis of the composition of the marine-dissolved organic matter has highlighted the importance of D-amino acids, whose origin is attributed mainly to the remains of bacterial peptidoglycan released as a result of grazing or viral lysis. However, very few studies have focused on the active release of D-amino acids by bacteria. With this purpose, we measured the concentration of dissolved amino acids in both enantiomeric forms with two levels of complexity: axenic cultures of Vibrio furnissii and Vibrio alginolyticus and microcosms created from marine microbial assemblages (Biscay Bay, Cantabrian Sea) with and without heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNFs). Axenic cultures showed that only D-Ala was significantly released and accumulated in the medium up to a concentration of 120 nM, probably as a consequence of the rearrangement of peptidoglycan. The marine microbial assemblages showed that only two D-amino acids significantly accumulated in the environment, D-Ala and D-aspartic acid (Asp), in both the absence and presence of HNFs. The D/L ratio increased during the incubation and reached maximum values of 3.0 to 4.3 for Ala and 0.4 to 10.6 for Asp and correlated with prokaryotic and HNF abundance as well as the rate of prokaryotic thymidine and leucine incorporation. Prokaryotes preferentially consumed L-amino acids, but the relative uptake rates of D-Ala significantly increased in the growth phase. These results demonstrate that bacteria can release and consume D-amino acids at high rates during growth, even in the absence of viruses and grazers, highlighting the importance of bacteria as producers of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the sea.

Influence of age of aggregates and prokaryotic abundance on glucose and leucine uptake by heterotrophic marine prokaryotes.

The kinetics of glucose and leucine uptake in attached and free-living prokaryotes in two types of microcosms with different nutrient qualities were compared. Microcosm type M1, derived from unaltered seawater, and microcosm type M2, from phytoplankton cultures, clearly expressed different kinetic parameters (Vmax/cell and K' m). In aggregates with low cell densities (M1 microcosm), the attached prokaryotes benefited from attachment as reflected in the higher potential uptake rates, while in aggregates with high cell densities (M2 microcosm) differences in the potential uptake rates of attached and free-living prokaryotes were not evident. The aging process and the chemical changes in aggregates of M2 microcosms were followed for 15-20 days. The results showed that as the aggregates aged and prokaryotic abundance increased, attached prokaryotes decreased their potential uptake rate and their K' m for substrate. This suggests an adaptive response by attached prokaryotes when aggregates undergo quantitative and qualitative impoverishment.

Influence of age of aggregates and prokaryotic abundance on glucose and leucine uptake by heterotrophic marine prokaryotes

The kinetics of glucose and leucine uptake in attached and free-living prokaryotes in two types of microcosms with different nutrient qualities were compared. Microcosm type M1, derived from unaltered seawater, and microcosm type M2, from phytoplankton cultures, clearly expressed different kinetic parameters (Vmax/cell and K’ m). In aggregates with low cell densities (M1 microcosm), the attached prokaryotes benefited from attachment as reflected in the higher potential uptake rates, while in aggregates with high cell densities (M2 microcosm) differences in the potential uptake rates of attached and free-living prokaryotes were not evident. The aging process and the chemical changes in aggregates of M2 microcosms were followed for 15-20 days. The results showed that as the aggregates aged and prokaryotic abundance increased, attached prokaryotes decreased their potential uptake rate and their K’ m for substrate. This suggests an adaptive response by attached prokaryotes when aggregates undergo quantitative and qualitative impoverishment (AU)

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