Moutin
T.
Moutin
T.
No Thumbnail Available
4 results
Search Results
Now showing
1 - 4 of 4
-
ArticleGrowth and specific P-uptake rates of bacterial and phytoplanktonic communities in the Southeast Pacific (BIOSOPE cruise)(Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2007-11-08) Duhamel, Solange ; Moutin, T. ; Van Wambeke, F. ; Van Mooy, Benjamin A. S. ; Rimmelin, P. ; Raimbault, P. ; Claustre, HervéPredicting heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton specific growth rates (μ) is of great scientific interest. Many methods have been developed in order to assess bacterial or phytoplankton μ. One widely used method is to estimate μ from data obtained on biomass or cell abundance and rates of biomass or cell production. According to Kirchman (2002), the most appropriate approach for estimating μ is simply to divide the production rate by the biomass or cell abundance estimate. Most methods using this approach to estimate μ are based on carbon (C) incorporation rates and C biomass measurements. Nevertheless it is also possible to estimate μ using phosphate (P) data. We showed that particulate phosphate (PartP) can be used to estimate biomass and that the P uptake rate to PartP ratio can be employed to assess μ. Contrary to other methods using C, this estimator does not need conversion factors and provides an evaluation of μ for both autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms. We report values of P-based μ in three size fractions (0.2–0.6; 0.6–2 and >2 μm) along a Southeast Pacific transect, over a wide range of P-replete trophic status. P-based μ values were higher in the 0.6–2 μm fraction than in the >2 μm fraction, suggesting that picoplankton-sized cells grew faster than the larger cells, whatever the trophic regime encountered. Picoplankton-sized cells grew significantly faster in the deep chlorophyll maximum layer than in the upper part of the photic zone in the oligotrophic gyre area, suggesting that picoplankton might outcompete >2 μm cells in this particular high-nutrient, low-light environment. P-based μ attributed to free-living bacteria (0.2-0.6 μm) and picoplankton (0.6–2 μm) size-fractions were relatively low (0.11±0.07 d−1 and 0.14±0.04 d−1, respectively) in the Southeast Pacific gyre, suggesting that the microbial community turns over very slowly.
-
ArticlePhospholipid synthesis rates in the eastern subtropical South Pacific Ocean(Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2008-02-06) Van Mooy, Benjamin A. S. ; Moutin, T. ; Duhamel, Solange ; Rimmelin, P. ; Van Wambeke, F.Membrane lipid molecules are a major component of planktonic organisms and this is particularly true of the microbial picoplankton that dominate the open ocean; with their high surface-area to volume ratios, the synthesis of membrane lipids places a major demand on their overall cell metabolism. Specifically, the synthesis of cell membrane phospholipids creates a demand for the nutrient phosphorus, and we sought to refine our understanding of the role of phospholipids in the upper ocean phosphorus cycle. We measured the rates of phospholipid synthesis in a transect of the eastern subtropical South Pacific from Easter Island to Concepcion, Chile as part of the BIOSOPE program. Our approach combined standard phosphorus radiotracer incubations and lipid extraction methods. We found that phospholipid synthesis rates varied from less than 1 to greater than 200 pmol P L−1 h−1, and that phospholipid synthesis contributed between less than 5% to greater than 22% of the total PO43− incorporation rate. Changes in the percentage that phospholipid synthesis contributed to total PO43− uptake were strongly correlated with the ratio of primary production to bacterial production, which supported our hypothesis that heterotrophic bacteria were the primary agents of phospholipid synthesis. The spatial variation in phospholipid synthesis rates underscored the importance of heterotrophic bacteria in the phosphorus cycle of the eastern subtropical South Pacific, particularly the hyperoligotrophic South Pacific subtropical gyre.
-
ArticleGradients in intact polar diacylglycerolipids across the Mediterranean Sea are related to phosphate availability(Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2011-12-20) Popendorf, Kimberly J. ; Tanaka, T. ; Pujo-Pay, M. ; Lagaria, A. ; Courties, C. ; Conan, P. ; Oriol, L. ; Sofen, L. E. ; Moutin, T. ; Van Mooy, Benjamin A. S.Intact polar membrane lipids compose a significant fraction of cellular material in plankton and their synthesis imposes a substantial constraint on planktonic nutrient requirements. As a part of the Biogeochemistry from the Oligotrophic to the Ultraoligotrophic Mediterranean (BOUM) cruise we examined the distribution of several classes of intact polar diacylglycerolipids (IP-DAGs) across the Mediterranean, and found that phospholipid concentration as a percent of total lipids correlated with phosphate concentration. In addition, the ratios of non-phosphorus lipids to phospholipids – sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) to phosphatidylglycerol (PG), and betaine lipids to phosphatidylcholine (PC) – were also found to increase from west to east across the Mediterranean. Additionally, microcosm incubations from across the Mediterranean were amended with phosphate and ammonium, and in the course of several days nutrient amendments elicited a shift in the ratios of IP-DAGs. These experiments were used to assess the relative contribution of community shifts and physiological response to the observed change in IP-DAGs across the Mediterranean. The ratio of SQDG to chlorophyll-a was also explored as an indicator of phytoplankton response to nitrogen availability. This study is the first to demonstrate the dynamic response of membrane lipid composition to changes in nutrients in a natural, mixed planktonic community.
-
ArticlePhosphate availability and the ultimate control of new nitrogen input by nitrogen fixation in the tropical Pacific Ocean(Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2008-01-29) Moutin, T. ; Karl, David M. ; Duhamel, Solange ; Rimmelin, P. ; Raimbault, P. ; Van Mooy, Benjamin A. S. ; Claustre, HervéDue to the low atmospheric input of phosphate into the open ocean, it is one of the key nutrients that could ultimately control primary production and carbon export into the deep ocean. The observed trend over the last 20 years has shown a decrease in the dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) pool in the North Pacific gyre, which has been correlated to the increase in di-nitrogen (N2) fixation rates. Following a NW-SE transect, in the Southeast Pacific during the early austral summer (BIOSOPE cruise), we present data on DIP, dissolved organic phosphate (DOP) and particulate phosphate (PP) pools along with DIP turnover times (TDIP) and N2 fixation rates. We observed a decrease in DIP concentration from the edges to the centre of the gyre. Nevertheless the DIP concentrations remained above 100 nmol L−1 and T DIP was more than 6 months in the centre of the gyre; DIP availability remained largely above the level required for phosphate limitation to occur and the absence of Trichodesmium spp and low nitrogen fixation rates were likely to be controlled by other factors such as temperature or iron availability. This contrasts with recent observations in the North Pacific Ocean at the ALOHA station and in the western Pacific Ocean at the same latitude (DIAPALIS cruises) where lower DIP concentrations (<20 nmol L−1) and T DIP <50 h were measured during the summer season in the upper layer. The South Pacific gyre can be considered a High Phosphate Low Chlorophyll (HPLC) oligotrophic area, which could potentially support high N2 fixation rates and possibly carbon dioxide sequestration, if the primary ecophysiological controls, temperature and/or iron availability, were alleviated.