Abundance of bacteria, cyanobacteria and nanoflagellates at sime series station DYNAPROC

The variability in microbial communities (abundance and biomass), bacterial production and ectoaminopeptidase activity, particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC, DOC), and particulate and dissolved lipids was examined in spring 1995 in the northwestern Mediterranean, where a transition from the end of a bloom to pre-oligotrophic conditions was observed. Four time series of 36 h each and 4 h sampling intervals were performed at 5 m and at the chlorophyll maximum (30 m) between 11 and 31 May. Simultaneous measurements of pigments, abundance of hetero- and autotrophic flagellates, bacteria and POC enabled the estimation of living POC (defined as autotrophic-C plus heterotrophic-C biomass), and thus the detrital organic carbon. During the first 2 time series (11 to 15 May), the bacterial-C biomass was higher than the autotrophic-C biomass at 5 m (ratio 1.4 and 1.7), whereas the opposite trend was observed in the chlorophyll peak (ratio 0.7 for the first cycle). However, at the end of May, autotrophic-C biomass was equivalent to bacterial-C biomass at both depths studied. The detrital pool remained a more or less constant fraction of the POC (52, 53 and 47% on 11-12 May, 14-15 May and 30-31 May) at the chlorophyll peak, whereas it decreased significantly with time (62 to 53%) at 5 m. Relationships between bacterial activities and evolution of available resources were not systematically evidenced from our 36 h diel cycle data. Nevertheless, at the monthly scale, comparison of bacterial carbon demand (BCD) to potential carbon resources (detrital POC and DOC) showed that bacteria fed differently on the various pools. From ectoaminopeptidase turnover rates and detrital POC, the potential hydrolysis rate of detritus was calculated. Depending on the choice of conversion factors for bacterial production and estimates of hydrolysis turnover rates, it was shown that bacterial hydrolysis of detritus could be one of the DOC accumulation sources. We observed that the percentage of BCD supplied by detrital POC hydrolysis increased in the surface and decreased in the chlorophyll peak. An index of lipid degradation in POC, the lipolysis index, increased during the month at 5 m, also indicating a higher hydrolysis of POC. The opposite trend was observed in the chlorophyll maximum layer. The selective decrease in dissolved lipids in DOC in the chlorophyll maximum layer, particularly free fatty acids, also suggests that bacteria utilized increased fractions of carbon sources from the DOC. We concluded that partitioning between DOC and detritus as resources for bacteria can change during the rapid transition period from mesotrophy to oligotrophy in the northwestern Mediterranean.

Results of magnetic analysis

Microorganisms are a primary control on the redox-induced cycling of iron in the environment. Despite the ability of bacteria to grow using both Fe(II) and Fe(III) bound in solid-phase iron minerals, it is currently unknown if changing environmental conditions enable the sharing of electrons in mixed-valent iron oxides between bacteria with different metabolisms. We show through magnetic and spectroscopic measurements that the phototrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 oxidizes magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles using light energy. This process is reversible in co-cultures by the anaerobic Fe(III)-reducing bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens. These results demonstrate that Fe ions bound in the highly crystalline mineral magnetite are bioavailable as electron sinks and electron sources under varying environmental conditions, effectively rendering a naturally occurring battery.