Abiotic selection of microbial genome size in the global ocean

David K. Ngugi (), Silvia G. Acinas, Pablo Sánchez, Josep M. Gasol, Susana Agusti, David M. Karl and Carlos M. Duarte
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David K. Ngugi: Leibniz Institute DSMZ – German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures
Silvia G. Acinas: Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC
Pablo Sánchez: Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC
Josep M. Gasol: Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC
Susana Agusti: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Red Sea Research Center
David M. Karl: University of Hawaií at Mãnoa
Carlos M. Duarte: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Red Sea Research Center

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Strong purifying selection is considered a major evolutionary force behind small microbial genomes in the resource-poor photic ocean. However, very little is currently known about how the size of prokaryotic genomes evolves in the global ocean and whether patterns reflect shifts in resource availability in the epipelagic and relatively stable deep-sea environmental conditions. Using 364 marine microbial metagenomes, we investigate how the average genome size of uncultured planktonic prokaryotes varies across the tropical and polar oceans to the hadal realm. We find that genome size is highest in the perennially cold polar ocean, reflecting elongation of coding genes and gene dosage effects due to duplications in the interior ocean microbiome. Moreover, the rate of change in genome size due to temperature is 16-fold higher than with depth up to 200 m. Our results demonstrate how environmental factors can influence marine microbial genome size selection and ecological strategies of the microbiome.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36988-x

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