Disentangling microbial networks across pelagic zones in the tropical and subtropical global ocean

Ina M. Deutschmann*, Erwan Delage, Caterina R. Giner, Marta Sebastián, Julie Poulain, Javier Arístegui, Carlos M. Duarte, Silvia G. Acinas, Ramon Massana, Josep M. Gasol, Damien Eveillard, Samuel Chaffron, Ramiro Logares*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Microbial interactions are vital in maintaining ocean ecosystem function, yet their dynamic nature and complexity remain largely unexplored. Here, we use association networks to investigate possible ecological interactions in the marine microbiome among archaea, bacteria, and picoeukaryotes throughout different depths and geographical regions of the tropical and subtropical global ocean. Our findings reveal that potential microbial interactions change with depth and geographical scale, exhibiting highly heterogeneous distributions. A few potential interactions were global, meaning they occurred across regions at the same depth, while 11-36% were regional within specific depths. The bathypelagic zone had the lowest proportion of global associations, and regional associations increased with depth. Moreover, we observed that most surface water associations do not persist in deeper ocean layers despite microbial vertical dispersal. Our work contributes to a deeper understanding of the tropical and subtropical global ocean interactome, which is essential for addressing the challenges posed by global change.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number126
JournalNature Communications
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2024

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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