Marine microbiology articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  06 December 2023 | Open Access

  Strong chemotaxis by marine bacteria towards polysaccharides is enhanced by the abundant organosulfur compound DMSP

  The ability of marine bacteria to direct their movement in response to chemical gradients influences inter-species interactions, nutrient turnover, and ecosystem productivity. Here, Clerc et al. show that marine bacteria are strongly attracted to algal polysaccharides, and this chemotactic behaviour is enhanced by dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), a ubiquitous algal metabolite.

  • Estelle E. Clerc
  • , Jean-Baptiste Raina
  •  & Roman Stocker

• Article
  27 November 2023 | Open Access

  Metagenomic profiles of archaea and bacteria within thermal and geochemical gradients of the Guaymas Basin deep subsurface

  The authors study microbial communities in hydrothermally heated, subseafloor sediment layers. They find that microbial abundance and diversity decrease with sediment depth and temperature, and provide evidence for the existence of a specialized deep, hot biosphere.

  • Paraskevi Mara
  • , David Geller-McGrath
  •  & Andreas Teske

• Article
  19 July 2023 | Open Access

  Identification of a deep-branching thermophilic clade sheds light on early bacterial evolution

  Thermophilic microorganisms can live at high temperatures, but the origin and evolution of this ability are unclear. Here, the authors isolate a thermophilic bacterium from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent, and show it belongs to a major early-diverging lineage whose ancestor was likely also a thermophilic bacterium.

  • Hao Leng
  • , Yinzhao Wang
  •  & Xiang Xiao

• Article
  11 April 2023 | Open Access

  Anaerobic thiosulfate oxidation by the Roseobacter group is prevalent in marine biofilms

  Thiosulfate oxidation by microbes has a major impact on global sulfur cycling. Here, Ding et al. provide evidence that bacteria of the Roseobacter group are major thiosulfate-oxidizers in marine biofilms, where anaerobic thiosulfate metabolism is preferred.

  • Wei Ding
  • , Shougang Wang
  •  & Weipeng Zhang

• Article
  06 December 2022 | Open Access

  New globally distributed bacterial phyla within the FCB superphylum

  Our understanding of microbial diversity and physiology in marine sediments is limited. Here, Gong et al. analyze thousands of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from coastal and deep-sea sediments, and identify MAGs belonging to new bacterial phyla that seem able to mediate key steps in sedimentary biogeochemistry.

  • Xianzhe Gong
  • , Álvaro Rodríguez del Río
  •  & Brett J. Baker

• Article
  15 November 2022 | Open Access

  Cell-specific measurements show nitrogen fixation by particle-attached putative non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

  Nitrogen-fixing (diazotrophic) cyanobacteria provide a critical nutrient input to the ocean. Non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs are also thought to contribute, but they have not been observed to fix nitrogen. Using dual isotope labeling combined with nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry, this study demonstrates that putative non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs attached to particles can fix nitrogen.

  • Katie J. Harding
  • , Kendra A. Turk-Kubo
  •  & Jonathan P. Zehr

• Article
  06 October 2022 | Open Access

  A pathway for chitin oxidation in marine bacteria

  Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases contribute to microbial degradation of chitin, but how the resulting oxidized chitooligosaccharides are utilized by microbes is unclear. Here, the authors describe a complete pathway for oxidative chitin utilization in marine bacteria.

  • Wen-Xin Jiang
  • , Ping-Yi Li
  •  & Yu-Zhong Zhang

• Article
  02 July 2021 | Open Access

  Quantifying nitrogen fixation by heterotrophic bacteria in sinking marine particles

  N₂ fixation by heterotrophic bacteria has recently been found to take place on sinking marine particles, but an understanding of its regulation and importance is lacking. Here the authors develop a trait-based model for this N₂ fixation, finding that this once overlooked process could have global importance.

  • Subhendu Chakraborty
  • , Ken H. Andersen
  •  & Lasse Riemann

• Article
  25 March 2021 | Open Access

  Pili allow dominant marine cyanobacteria to avoid sinking and evade predation

  It was thought that marine cyanobacteria drifted randomly in the water column. Here the authors show that one in four picocyanobacteria encode a type IV pilus which allows these organisms to increase drag and retain optimal positions in the water column, as well as evade predation by grazers.

  • Maria del Mar Aguilo-Ferretjans
  • , Rafael Bosch
  •  & Joseph A. Christie-Oleza

• Article
  17 November 2020 | Open Access

  Thermogenic hydrocarbon biodegradation by diverse depth-stratified microbial populations at a Scotian Basin cold seep

  Describing anaerobic short chain alkane degrading archaea at a newly discovered cold seep, the authors here suggest that these organisms play much more important roles in submarine carbon cycling globally than previously thought.

  • Xiyang Dong
  • , Jayne E. Rattray
  •  & Casey R. J. Hubert

• Article
  23 April 2020 | Open Access

  Single-cell bacterial transcription measurements reveal the importance of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) hotspots in ocean sulfur cycling

  DMSP is a ubiquitous organosulfur compound in the ocean that, once degraded by bacteria, plays key roles in global biogeochemical cycles and climate regulation. Here, the authors use single-cell measurements of transcription to investigate the intricate dynamics of bacterial DMSP degradation.

  • Cherry Gao
  • , Vicente I. Fernandez
  •  & Roman Stocker

• Article
  15 January 2020 | Open Access

  A predator-prey interaction between a marine Pseudoalteromonas sp. and Gram-positive bacteria

  Predator-prey interactions play important roles in the cycling of marine organic matter. Here the authors show that a Gram-negative bacterium isolated from marine sediments can kill and feed on Gram-positive bacteria by secreting a peptidoglycan-degrading enzyme.

  • Bai-Lu Tang
  • , Jie Yang
  •  & Yu-Zhong Zhang

• Article
  12 July 2019 | Open Access

  Coral bacterial community structure responds to environmental change in a host-specific manner

  The flexibility of corals to associate with different bacteria in different environments has not been systematically investigated. Here, the authors study bacterial community dynamics for two coral species and show that bacterial community structure responds to environmental changes in a host-specific manner.

  • Maren Ziegler
  • , Carsten G. B. Grupstra
  •  & Christian R. Voolstra

• Article
  18 April 2019 | Open Access

  Metabolic potential of uncultured bacteria and archaea associated with petroleum seepage in deep-sea sediments

  Little is known about the microbial ecology of the deep seabed. Here, Dong et al. predict metabolic capabilities and microbial interactions in deep seabed petroleum seeps using shotgun metagenomics, sediment geochemistry, metabolomics, and thermodynamic modelling.

  • Xiyang Dong
  • , Chris Greening
  •  & Casey R. J. Hubert

• Article
  30 April 2018 | Open Access

  Oxygen minimum zone cryptic sulfur cycling sustained by offshore transport of key sulfur oxidizing bacteria

  The presence and activity of sulfide-oxidizing denitrifying bacteria in sulfide-poor offshore oxygen minimum zone waters remains unclear. Here, the authors combine oceanography, molecular, biogeochemical and single-cell techniques to examine their distribution, metabolic capacity, and origins.

  • Cameron M. Callbeck
  • , Gaute Lavik
  •  & Marcel M. M. Kuypers

• Article
  22 November 2017 | Open Access

  Carrageenan catabolism is encoded by a complex regulon in marine heterotrophic bacteria

  Carrageenans, major cell wall polysaccharides of red macroalgae, are metabolised by marine heterotrophic bacteria through unclear mechanisms. Here, the authors identify an unusual polysaccharide-utilization locus encoding carrageenan catabolism in a marine bacterium, and characterise the complete pathway.

  • Elizabeth Ficko-Blean
  • , Aurélie Préchoux
  •  & Gurvan Michel

• Article
  04 August 2017 | Open Access

  Long-range transport of airborne microbes over the global tropical and subtropical ocean

  The extent to which the ocean acts as a sink and source of airborne particles to the atmosphere is unresolved. Here, the authors report high microbial loads over the tropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and propose islands as stepping stones for the transoceanic transport of terrestrial microbes..

  • Eva Mayol
  • , Jesús M. Arrieta
  •  & Carlos M. Duarte

• Article
  24 February 2017 | Open Access

  Sponge-associated bacteria mineralize arsenic and barium on intracellular vesicles

  The marine spongeTheonella swinhoeiaccumulates toxic arsenic and barium. Here the authors show that these toxic elements are actually accumulated and mineralized within vesicles inside bacteria that live within the sponge tissues.

  • Ray Keren
  • , Boaz Mayzel
  •  & Micha Ilan

• Article
  22 September 2016 | Open Access

  Adaptive radiation by waves of gene transfer leads to fine-scale resource partitioning in marine microbes

  Adaptive radiations are well-known for animals and plants, but not for microbes. Here, Hehemann et al. show that there has been a recent adaptive radiation of bacteria in the Vibrionaceae to use different forms of alginate and that this radiation has been mediated by horizontal gene transfer.

  • Jan-Hendrik Hehemann
  • , Philip Arevalo
  •  & Martin F. Polz

• Article
  17 June 2016 | Open Access

  Microbial interactions lead to rapid micro-scale successions on model marine particles

  Particles of organic matter in the ocean harbour microbial communities that digest and recycle essential nutrients. Here, Datta et al.use model marine particles to show that the attached bacterial communities undergo rapid, reproducible successions driven by ecological interactions.

  • Manoshi S. Datta
  • , Elzbieta Sliwerska
  •  & Otto X. Cordero

• Article | 12 December 2014

  The long-chain alkane metabolism network of Alcanivorax dieselolei

  The ability to degrade hydrocarbons, such as alkanes, is common among marine microbes but many details of this process are unclear. Here, Wang & Shao identify genes and proteins involved in alkane sensing, uptake and degradation in the marine bacterium Alcanivorax dieselolei.

  • Wanpeng Wang
  •  & Zongze Shao

• Article | 28 October 2013

  Deoxygenation alters bacterial diversity and community composition in the ocean’s largest oxygen minimum zone

  Oxygen minimum zones in the global ocean have an important role in biogeochemical cycles, yet their response to climate change is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that bacterial community composition is tightly coupled to dissolved oxygen and is likely to fundamentally change as the oceans warm.

  • J. Michael Beman
  •  & Molly T. Carolan

• Article | 08 February 2011

  A bacterial proteorhodopsin proton pump in marine eukaryotes

  Proteorhodopsin is used by prokaryotes to generate energy from light. In this study, the authors describe a prokaryote-to-eukaryote horizontal gene transfer of a bacterial proteorhodopsin gene to dinoflagellates, suggesting that these eukaryotes can also use proteorhodopsin to obtain light and produce energy.

  • Claudio H. Slamovits
  • , Noriko Okamoto
  •  & Patrick J. Keeling