Mahaffey Claire

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Mahaffey
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Claire
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  • Article
    Co-occurrence of fe and P stress in natural populations of the marine diazotroph Trichodesmium
    (European Geosciences Union, 2020-05-12) Held, Noelle A. ; Webb, Eric A. ; McIlvin, Matthew R. ; Hutchins, David A. ; Cohen, Natalie R. ; Moran, Dawn M. ; Kunde, Korinna ; Lohan, Maeve C. ; Mahaffey, Claire ; Woodward, E. Malcolm S. ; Saito, Mak A.
    Trichodesmium is a globally important marine microbe that provides fixed nitrogen (N) to otherwise N-limited ecosystems. In nature, nitrogen fixation is likely regulated by iron or phosphate availability, but the extent and interaction of these controls are unclear. From metaproteomics analyses using established protein biomarkers for nutrient stress, we found that iron–phosphate co-stress is the norm rather than the exception for Trichodesmium colonies in the North Atlantic Ocean. Counterintuitively, the nitrogenase enzyme was more abundant under co-stress as opposed to single nutrient stress. This is consistent with the idea that Trichodesmium has a specific physiological state during nutrient co-stress. Organic nitrogen uptake was observed and occurred simultaneously with nitrogen fixation. The quantification of the phosphate ABC transporter PstA combined with a cellular model of nutrient uptake suggested that Trichodesmium is generally confronted by the biophysical limits of membrane space and diffusion rates for iron and phosphate acquisition in the field. Colony formation may benefit nutrient acquisition from particulate and organic sources, alleviating these pressures. The results highlight that to predict the behavior of Trichodesmium, both Fe and P stress must be evaluated simultaneously.
  • Article
    A warm jet in a cold ocean
    (Nature Research, 2021-04-23) MacKinnon, Jennifer A. ; Simmons, Harper L. ; Hargrove, John ; Thomson, Jim ; Peacock, Thomas ; Alford, Matthew H. ; Barton, Benjamin I. ; Boury, Samuel ; Brenner, Samuel D. ; Couto, Nicole ; Danielson, Seth L. ; Fine, Elizabeth C. ; Graber, Hans C. ; Guthrie, John D. ; Hopkins, Joanne E. ; Jayne, Steven R. ; Jeon, Chanhyung ; Klenz, Thilo ; Lee, Craig M. ; Lenn, Yueng-Djern ; Lucas, Andrew J. ; Lund, Björn ; Mahaffey, Claire ; Norman, Louisa ; Rainville, Luc ; Smith, Madison M. ; Thomas, Leif N. ; Torres-Valdes, Sinhue ; Wood, Kevin R.
    Unprecedented quantities of heat are entering the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait, particularly during summer months. Though some heat is lost to the atmosphere during autumn cooling, a significant fraction of the incoming warm, salty water subducts (dives beneath) below a cooler fresher layer of near-surface water, subsequently extending hundreds of kilometers into the Beaufort Gyre. Upward turbulent mixing of these sub-surface pockets of heat is likely accelerating sea ice melt in the region. This Pacific-origin water brings both heat and unique biogeochemical properties, contributing to a changing Arctic ecosystem. However, our ability to understand or forecast the role of this incoming water mass has been hampered by lack of understanding of the physical processes controlling subduction and evolution of this this warm water. Crucially, the processes seen here occur at small horizontal scales not resolved by regional forecast models or climate simulations; new parameterizations must be developed that accurately represent the physics. Here we present novel high resolution observations showing the detailed process of subduction and initial evolution of warm Pacific-origin water in the southern Beaufort Gyre.