Metabolic pathways inferred from a bacterial marker gene illuminate ecological changes across South Pacific frontal boundaries

Eric J. Raes (), Kristen Karsh, Swan L. S. Sow, Martin Ostrowski, Mark V. Brown, Jodie Kamp, Rita M. Franco-Santos, Levente Bodrossy and Anya M. Waite
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Eric J. Raes: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Kristen Karsh: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Swan L. S. Sow: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Martin Ostrowski: University of Technology Sydney
Mark V. Brown: The University of Newcastle
Jodie Kamp: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Rita M. Franco-Santos: University of Tasmania
Levente Bodrossy: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Anya M. Waite: Dalhousie University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Global oceanographic monitoring initiatives originally measured abiotic essential ocean variables but are currently incorporating biological and metagenomic sampling programs. There is, however, a large knowledge gap on how to infer bacterial functions, the information sought by biogeochemists, ecologists, and modelers, from the bacterial taxonomic information (produced by bacterial marker gene surveys). Here, we provide a correlative understanding of how a bacterial marker gene (16S rRNA) can be used to infer latitudinal trends for metabolic pathways in global monitoring campaigns. From a transect spanning 7000 km in the South Pacific Ocean we infer ten metabolic pathways from 16S rRNA gene sequences and 11 corresponding metagenome samples, which relate to metabolic processes of primary productivity, temperature-regulated thermodynamic effects, coping strategies for nutrient limitation, energy metabolism, and organic matter degradation. This study demonstrates that low-cost, high-throughput bacterial marker gene data, can be used to infer shifts in the metabolic strategies at the community scale.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22409-4

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