Laminariales Host Does Impact Lipid Temperature Trajectories of the Fungal Endophyte Paradendryphiella salina (Sutherland.)

International audienceKelps are colonized by a wide range of microbial symbionts. Among them, endophytic fungi remain poorly studied, but recent studies evidenced yet their high diversity and their central role in algal defense against various pathogens. Thus, studying the metabolic expressions of kelp endophytes under different conditions is important to have a better understanding of their impacts on host performance. In this context, fatty acid composition is essential to a given algae fitness and of interest to food web studies either to measure its nutritional quality or to infer about its contribution to consumers diets. In the present study, Paradendryphiella salina, a fungal endophyte was isolated from Saccharina latissima (L.) and Laminaria digitata (Hudson.) and its fatty acid composition was assessed at increasing salinity and temperature conditions. Results showed that fungal composition in terms of fatty acids displayed algal-dependent trajectories in response to temperature increase. This highlights that C18 unsaturated fatty acids are key components in the host-dependant acclimation of P. salina to salinity and temperature changes

Short-term changes in the quality of suspended particulate matter in a human impacted and mangrove dominated tropical estuary (Can Gio, Vietnam)

International audienceSuspended particulate matter (SPM) is a key component of coastal food webs and a key variable of nutrient budgets. Understanding its variability across short time scales in estuaries may help ecologists understand seasonal and diurnal migration of estuarine organisms, and answer how their nutritional requirements are fulfilled. It may also inform biogeochemists regarding the factors that influence import and export of nutrients between terrestrial and coastal ecosystems. This study aimed to link the dynamics of fatty acids, stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) and C/N ratios of SPM, revealing organic matter quality, to rapidly varying factors (SPM concentration, salinity and presence of daylight) and comparing this variability to the seasonal variation induced by the alternation of dry and wet seasons in the studied region. Our results revealed that these rapidly varying factors had a strong influence on the bacterial and the phytoplanktonic compartments of SPM. They suggest that tidally resuspended particles are the site of intense heterotrophic activity and that estuarine phytoplankton store lipids during the daytime up to substantially modifying SPM quality. Our study also shows higher freshness of SPM during the wet season. We expect this study to raise the interest of both biologists and biogeochemists to introduce daily variability of SPM in food webs and nutrient budgets modelling

A Nanoscale Study of Carbon and Nitrogen Fluxes in Mats of Purple Sulfur Bacteria: Implications for Carbon Cycling at the Surface of Coastal Sediments

International audienceMass blooms of purple sulfur bacteria growing seasonally on green stranded macroalgae have a major impact on the microbial composition and functionality of intertidal mats. To explore the active anoxygenic phototrophic community in purple bacterial mats from the Roscoff Aber Bay (Brittany, France), we conducted a combined approach including molecular and high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) analyses. To investigate the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen assimilation activities, NanoSIMS was coupled with a stable isotope probing (SIP) experiment and a compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Sediment samples were incubated with 13 C-and/or 15 N-labeled acetate, pyruvate, bicarbonate and ammonium. NanoSIMS analysis of 13 C-and 15 N-incubated samples showed elevated incorporations of 13 C-and 15 N in the light and of 13 C-acetate in the dark into dense populations of spherical cells that unambiguously dominated the mats. These results confirmed CSIA data that ranked vaccenic acid, an unambiguous marker of purple sulfur bacteria, as the most strongly enriched in the light after 13 C-acetate amendment and indicated that acetate uptake, the most active in the mat, was not light-dependent. Analysis of DNA-and cDNA-derived pufM gene sequences revealed that Thiohalocapsa-related clones dominated both libraries and were the most photosynthetically active members of the mat samples. This study provides novel insights into the contribution of purple sulfur bacteria to the carbon cycle during their seasonal developments at the sediment surface in the intertidal zone

Seasonal variations of the composition of microbial biofilms in sandy tidal flats: Focus of fatty acids, pigments and exopolymers

International audienceBiofilms, or microbial mats, are common associations of microorganisms in tidal flats; they generally consist of a large diversity of organisms embedded in a matrix of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS). These molecules are mainly composed of carbohydrates and proteins, but their detailed monomer compositions and seasonal variations are currently unknown. Yet this composition determines the numerous roles of biofilms in these systems. This study investigated the changes in composition of carbohydrates in intertidal microbial mats over a year to decipher seasonal variations in biofilms and in varying hydrodynamic conditions. This work also aimed to assess how these compositions are related to microbial assemblages. In this context, natural biofilms whose development was influenced or not by artificial structures mimicking polychaete tubes were sampled monthly for over a year in intertidal flats of the Chausey archipelago. Biofilms were compared through the analysis of their fatty acid and pigment contents, and the monosaccharide composition of their EPS carbohydrates. Carbohydrates from both colloidal and bound EPS contained mainly glucose and, to a lower extent, galactose and mannose but they showed significant differences in their detailed monosaccharide compositions. These two fractions displayed different seasonal evolution, even if glucose accumulated in both fractions in summer; bound EPS only were affected by artificial biogenic structures. Sediment composition in fatty acids and pigments showed that microbial communities were dominated by diatoms and heterotrophic bacteria. Their relative proportions, as well as those of other groups like cryptophytes, changed between times and treatments. The changes in EPS composition were not fully explained by modifications of microbial assemblages but also depended on the processes taking place in sediments and on environmental conditions. These variations of EPS compositions are likely to alter different ecosystem processes such as biostabilisation or pollutants trapping

Contrasting organic matter composition in pristine and eutrophicated mangroves revealed by fatty acids and stable isotopes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

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A Nanoscale Study of Carbon and Nitrogen Fluxes in Mats of Purple Sulfur Bacteria: Implications for Carbon Cycling at the Surface of Coastal Sediments

Mass blooms of purple sulfur bacteria growing seasonally on green stranded macroalgae have a major impact on the microbial composition and functionality of intertidal mats. To explore the active anoxygenic phototrophic community in purple bacterial mats from the Roscoff Aber Bay (Brittany, France), we conducted a combined approach including molecular and high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) analyses. To investigate the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen assimilation activities, NanoSIMS was coupled with a stable isotope probing (SIP) experiment and a compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Sediment samples were incubated with 13C- and/or 15N-labeled acetate, pyruvate, bicarbonate and ammonium. NanoSIMS analysis of 13C - and 15N -incubated samples showed elevated incorporations of 13C - and 15N in the light and of 13C -acetate in the dark into dense populations of spherical cells that unambiguously dominated the mats. These results confirmed CSIA data that ranked vaccenic acid, an unambiguous marker of purple sulfur bacteria, as the most strongly enriched in the light after 13C -acetate amendment and indicated that acetate uptake, the most active in the mat, was not light-dependent. Analysis of DNA- and cDNA-derived pufM gene sequences revealed that Thiohalocapsa-related clones dominated both libraries and were the most photosynthetically active members of the mat samples. This study provides novel insights into the contribution of purple sulfur bacteria to the carbon cycle during their seasonal developments at the sediment surface in the intertidal zone

Functional kleptoplasts intermediate incorporation of carbon and nitrogen in cells of the Sacoglossa sea slug Elysia viridis

International audienceSome sacoglossan sea slugs incorporate intracellular functional algal chloroplasts, a process termed kleptoplasty. "Stolen" chloroplasts (kleptoplasts) can remain photosynthetically active up to several months, contributing to animal nutrition. Whether this contribution occurs by means of translocation of photosynthesis-derived metabolites from functional kleptoplasts to the animal host or by simple digestion of such organelles remains controversial. Imaging of C-13 and N-15 assimilation over a 12-h incubation period of Elysia viridis sea slugs showed a light-dependent incorporation of carbon and nitrogen, observed first in digestive tubules and followed by a rapid accumulation into chloroplast-free organs. Furthermore, this work revealed the presence of C-13-labeled long-chain fatty acids (FA) typical of marine invertebrates, such as arachidonic (20:4n-6) and adrenic (22:4n-6) acids. The time frame and level of C-13- and N-15-labeling in chloroplast-free organs indicate that photosynthesis-derived primary metabolites were made available to the host through functional kleptoplasts. The presence of specific C-13-labeled long-chain FA, absent from E. viridis algal food, indicates animal based-elongation using kleptoplast-derived FA precursors. Finally, carbon and nitrogen were incorporated in organs and tissues involved in reproductive functions (albumin gland and gonadal follicles), implying a putative role of kleptoplast photosynthesis in the reproductive fitness of the animal host

Functional diversity of microboring Ostreobium algae isolated from corals.

International audienceThe filamentous chlorophyte Ostreobium sp. dominates shallow marine carbonate microboring communities, and is one of the major agents of reef bioerosion. While its large genetic diversity has emerged, its physiology remains little known, with unexplored relationship between genotypes and phenotypes (endolithic versus free-living growth forms). Here, we isolated 9 strains affiliated to 2 lineages of Ostreobium (>8% sequence divergence of the plastid gene rbcL), one of which was assigned to the family Odoaceae, from the fastgrowing coral host Pocillopora acuta Lamarck 1816. Free-living isolates maintained their bioerosive potential, colonizing pre-bleached coral carbonate skeletons. We compared phenotypes, highlighting shifts in pigment and fatty acid compositions, carbon to nitrogen ratios and stable isotope compositions (δ 13 C and δ 15 N). Our data show a pattern of higher chlorophyll b and lower arachidonic acid (20:4ꙍ6) content in endolithic versus free-living Ostreobium. Photosynthetic carbon fixation and nitrate uptake, quantified via 8h pulselabeling with 13 C-bicarbonate and 15 N-nitrate, showed lower isotopic enrichment in endolithic compared to free-living filaments. Our results highlight the functional plasticity of Ostreobium phenotypes. The isotope tracer approach opens the way to further study the biogeochemical cycling and trophic ecology of these cryptic algae at coral holobiont and reef scales

Non-metric multidimensional scalings (nMDS) calculated with pigments (a) and fatty acids (b) proportions (in %).

<p>The stress value indicates the quality of the 2D representation. The ellipses are intended to group replicated of the same type of microbial mat together. Minor fatty acids (b) were coloured in gray.</p