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The microbial carbon pump and climate change

Nature Reviews Microbiology (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

The ocean has been a regulator of climate change throughout the history of Earth. One key mechanism is the mediation of the carbon reservoir by refractory dissolved organic carbon (RDOC), which can either be stored in the water column for centuries or released back into the atmosphere as CO2 depending on the conditions. The RDOC is produced through a myriad of microbial metabolic and ecological processes known as the microbial carbon pump (MCP). Here, we review recent research advances in processes related to the MCP, including the distribution patterns and molecular composition of RDOC, links between the complexity of RDOC compounds and microbial diversity, MCP-driven carbon cycles across time and space, and responses of the MCP to a changing climate. We identify knowledge gaps and future research directions in the role of the MCP, particularly as a key component in integrated approaches combining the mechanisms of the biological and abiotic carbon pumps for ocean negative carbon emissions.

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Fig. 1: Marine carbon cycling and the major processes and mechanisms involved.
Fig. 2: Microorganism–DOM complex networks.
Fig. 3: The MCP in changing environments.
Fig. 4: The RDOC pool driven by the MCP is a two-way regulator of climate change.
Fig. 5: Differences between the BCP, the MCP and the CCP.
Fig. 6: An integrated approach for maximum carbon sequestration in the ocean.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the following colleagues who are involved in the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development programme, Global Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions (Global-ONCE), for their valuable discussions: B. Rinkevich, C. Lopez, F. Jiao, H. Kaartokallio, J.-P. Gattuso, K. Tang, M. Weinbauer, Q. Tu, Q. Zheng, R. Cai and Y. Zhang. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation of China (42188102), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) ONCE project and the UNESCO-IOC, the joint PICES/ICES Working Group 46.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Innovation Research Center for Carbon Neutralization, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

    Nianzhi Jiao, Tingwei Luo, Quanrui Chen, Zhao Zhao & Xilin Xiao

  2. UN Global ONCE joint focal points at Shandong University, University of East Anglia, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

    Nianzhi Jiao, Tingwei Luo, Quanrui Chen, Zhao Zhao, Xilin Xiao, Jihua Liu, Micheal Gonsior, Feng Chen & Carol Robinson

  3. Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China

    Jihua Liu

  4. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

    Zhimin Jian

  5. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China

    Shucheng Xie

  6. Institute of Carbon Cycles, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, Germany

    Helmuth Thomas

  7. Institut für Chemie und Biologie des Meeres (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany

    Helmuth Thomas

  8. Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Gerhard J. Herndl

  9. Department of Biological Sciences, School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Ronald Benner

  10. Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, MD, USA

    Micheal Gonsior

  11. Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Feng Chen

  12. School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

    Wei-Jun Cai

  13. Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS), School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Carol Robinson

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  1. Nianzhi Jiao
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Jiao, N., Luo, T., Chen, Q. et al. The microbial carbon pump and climate change. Nat Rev Microbiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01018-0

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