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

Cherry Gao, Vicente I. Fernandez, Kang Soo Lee, Simona Fenizia, Georg Pohnert, Justin R. Seymour, Jean-Baptiste Raina () and Roman Stocker ()
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Cherry Gao: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Vicente I. Fernandez: Institute for Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich
Kang Soo Lee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Simona Fenizia: Friedrich Schiller University, Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
Georg Pohnert: Friedrich Schiller University, Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
Justin R. Seymour: University of Technology Sydney
Jean-Baptiste Raina: University of Technology Sydney
Roman Stocker: Institute for Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is a pivotal compound in marine biogeochemical cycles and a key chemical currency in microbial interactions. Marine bacteria transform DMSP via two competing pathways with considerably different biogeochemical implications: demethylation channels sulfur into the microbial food web, whereas cleavage releases sulfur into the atmosphere. Here, we present single-cell measurements of the expression of these two pathways using engineered fluorescent reporter strains of Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3, and find that external DMSP concentration dictates the relative expression of the two pathways. DMSP induces an upregulation of both pathways, but only at high concentrations (>1 μM for demethylation; >35 nM for cleavage), characteristic of microscale hotspots such as the vicinity of phytoplankton cells. Co-incubations between DMSP-producing microalgae and bacteria revealed an increase in cleavage pathway expression close to the microalgae’s surface. These results indicate that bacterial utilization of microscale DMSP hotspots is an important determinant of the fate of sulfur in the ocean.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15693-z

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