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Algal blooms in the ocean: hot spots for chemically mediated microbial interactions

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 22, pages 138–154 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

The cycling of major nutrients in the ocean is affected by large-scale phytoplankton blooms, which are hot spots of microbial life. Diverse microbial interactions regulate bloom dynamics. At the single-cell level, interactions between microorganisms are mediated by small molecules in the chemical crosstalk that determines the type of interaction, ranging from mutualism to pathogenicity. Algae interact with viruses, bacteria, parasites, grazers and other algae to modulate algal cell fate, and these interactions are dependent on the environmental context. Recent advances in mass spectrometry and single-cell technologies have led to the discovery of a growing number of infochemicals — metabolites that convey information — revealing the ability of algal cells to govern biotic interactions in the ocean. The diversity of infochemicals seems to account for the specificity in cellular response during microbial communication. Given the immense impact of algal blooms on biogeochemical cycles and climate regulation, a major challenge is to elucidate how microscale interactions control the fate of carbon and the recycling of major elements in the ocean. In this Review, we discuss microbial interactions and the role of infochemicals in algal blooms. We further explore factors that can impact microbial interactions and the available tools to decipher them in the natural environment.

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Fig. 1: Chemically mediated microbial interactions control algal bloom dynamics and affect the marine carbon cycle.
Fig. 2: Dimethyl sulfide — a multiscale infochemical.
Fig. 3: Context-dependent chemical communication in marine algal blooms.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank G. Schleyer for his constructive and thorough feedback. A.V. holds the Bronfman Professorial Chair of Plant Science and discloses further support for this work from the European Research Council Advance Grant (VIBES, grant no. 101053543).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Constanze Kuhlisch, Adva Shemi, Noa Barak-Gavish, Daniella Schatz & Assaf Vardi

  2. Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Noa Barak-Gavish

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Related links

European Space Agency: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2012/10/Algal_bloom_off_Ireland

Plymouth Marine Laboratory: https://www.pml.ac.uk/news/Huge-coccolithophore-bloom-spotted-from-space

Glossary

Allelopathy

An interaction in which one phytoplankton species inhibits the growth of competing phytoplankton species by releasing one or more allelochemicals.

Biotrophic parasite

A parasite that keeps the host cell alive during infection and until cell lysis.

Chemical communication

Exchange of information between two organisms via infochemicals.

Chemical cues

Molecules that are unintentionally released by an organism and that act as infochemicals for another organism.

Chemical signals

Molecules that have evolved to be intentionally released as infochemicals by an organism.

Fungal shunt

Alga-derived carbon is diverted to parasitic (fungal) zoospores, bypassing the microbial loop, as these zoospores incorporate algal carbon more effectively than associated bacteria.

Kairomones

Chemical compounds that mediate interactions between two species with beneficial effects for the recipient organism and deleterious effects for the releasing organism.

Mycoloop

Microbial grazing on fungal zoospores leads to carbon transfer from algae to higher trophic levels in cases where colonies are too large to be ingested by zooplankton and therefore would form aggregates that sediment to the ocean floor, contributing to the biological carbon pump.

Phytoplankton

Photosynthetic aquatic organisms that drift with water currents, including eukaryotic algae and prokaryotic cyanobacteria.

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Kuhlisch, C., Shemi, A., Barak-Gavish, N. et al. Algal blooms in the ocean: hot spots for chemically mediated microbial interactions. Nat Rev Microbiol 22, 138–154 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-023-00975-2

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