• Login
    About WHOAS
    View Item 
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Academic Programs
    • WHOI Theses
    • View Item
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Academic Programs
    • WHOI Theses
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of WHOASCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywordsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywords

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Phosphonate biogeochemical cycling in the marine environment: from an ocean scale to a molecular scale

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Acker_Thesis (6.875Mb)
    Date
    2021-06
    Author
    Acker, Marianne  Concept link
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/26787
    DOI
    10.1575/1912/26787
    Keyword
     Phosphorus; Phosphonate; Biogeochemical cycling 
    Abstract
    The existence of a marine phosphorus (P) redox cycle was recently confirmed when phosphonates, organophosphorus compounds with P in the (III) oxidation state, were found in high molecular weight dissolved organic matter. Although some features of the P redox cycle have come to light since the discovery of phosphonates, many aspects of phosphonate production, cycling and fate remain unknown. To address these gaps in our understanding, we studied phosphonate cycling in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, a chronically P-limited basin, using 33P and enzymatic assays. We showed that phosphonate production was low but consumption was high, suggesting that phosphonate production and consumption may be spatially or temporally decoupled. We also explored phosphonate production in the model marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus SB. Using 31P NMR, we found Prochlorococcus SB allocates ~50% of its cellular P to phosphonates. Allocation of P to phosphonates was conserved under P-limitation, and further investigation revealed phosphonates were associated with proteins. The discovery of phosphonoproteins in Prochlorococcus SB opens new perspectives on the biochemical function of phosphonates and their role in P-cycling. Finally, we developed a new P-targeted method to characterize marine organophosphorus compounds using liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
    Description
    Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Oceanography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2021.
    Collections
    • WHOI Theses
    • Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry (MC&G)
    Suggested Citation
    Thesis: Acker, Marianne, "Phosphonate biogeochemical cycling in the marine environment: from an ocean scale to a molecular scale", 2021-06, DOI:10.1575/1912/26787, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/26787
     

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      Observing biogeochemical cycles at global scales with profiling floats and gliders 

      Unknown author (OCB Project Office, 2009-04)
      This Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Scoping Workshop focused on the implementation of a long-term observing system for marine biogeochemistry using chemical and biological sensors deployed on autonomous platforms, ...
    • Thumbnail

      Biogeochemical and phylogenetic signals of Proterozoic and Phanerozoic microbial metabolisms 

      Gruen, Danielle S. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2018-09)
      Life is ubiquitous in the environment and an important mediator of Earth’s carbon cycle, but quantifying the contribution of microbial biomass and its metabolic fluxes is difficult, especially in spatially and temporally-remote ...
    • Thumbnail

      Biology and potential biogeochemical impacts of novel predatory flavobacteria 

      Banning, Erin C. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2010-06)
      Predatory bacteria are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and may be important players in the ecology and biogeochemistry of microbial communities. Three novel strains belonging to two genera of marine flavobacteria, ...
    All Items in WHOAS are protected by original copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. WHOAS also supports the use of the Creative Commons licenses for original content.
    A service of the MBLWHOI Library | About WHOAS
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Privacy Policy
    Core Trust Logo