Metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

Mesoscale eddies significantly alter open ocean environments such as those found in the subtropical gyres that cover a large fraction of the global ocean. Previous studies have explored eddy effects on biogeochemistry and microbial community composition but not on the molecular composition of partic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: William Kumler, Wei Qin, Rachel A. Lundeen, Benedetto Barone, Laura T. Carlson, Anitra E. Ingalls
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Marine Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1481409/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850118282230628352
author William Kumler
Wei Qin
Rachel A. Lundeen
Benedetto Barone
Laura T. Carlson
Anitra E. Ingalls
author_facet William Kumler
Wei Qin
Rachel A. Lundeen
Benedetto Barone
Laura T. Carlson
Anitra E. Ingalls
author_sort William Kumler
collection DOAJ
description Mesoscale eddies significantly alter open ocean environments such as those found in the subtropical gyres that cover a large fraction of the global ocean. Previous studies have explored eddy effects on biogeochemistry and microbial community composition but not on the molecular composition of particulate organic matter. This study reports the absolute concentration of 67 metabolites and relative abundances for 640 molecular features, measured using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) following both targeted and untargeted approaches. This approach allowed us to better understand how mesoscale eddies impact the metabolome of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre during two cruises in 2017 and 2018. We find that many metabolites track biomass trends, but metabolites like isethionic acid, homarine, and trigonelline linked to eukaryotic phytoplankton were enriched at the deep chlorophyll maximum of the cyclonic features, while degradation products such as arsenobetaine were enriched in anticyclones. In every analysis, the metabolites with the strongest responses were identified using LC-MS through untargeted metabolomics approaches, highlighting that the molecules most sensitive to environmental perturbation were not among the previously characterized metabolome. By analyzing depth variability (accounting for 20-40% of metabolomic variability across ~150 meters) and the vertical displacement of isopycnal surfaces (explaining 10-20% of variability across a sea level anomaly range of 40 centimeters and a spatial distance of 300 kilometers), this analysis constrains the importance of mesoscale eddies in shaping the chemical composition of particulate matter in the largest biomes on the planet.
format Article
id doaj-art-fdff8a17004340cba9f953ed5ed247c7
institution OA Journals
issn 2296-7745
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Marine Science
spelling doaj-art-fdff8a17004340cba9f953ed5ed247c72025-08-20T02:35:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452024-12-011110.3389/fmars.2024.14814091481409Metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical GyreWilliam Kumler0Wei Qin1Rachel A. Lundeen2Benedetto Barone3Laura T. Carlson4Anitra E. Ingalls5School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesSchool of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesSchool of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesDaniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education and Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United StatesSchool of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesSchool of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesMesoscale eddies significantly alter open ocean environments such as those found in the subtropical gyres that cover a large fraction of the global ocean. Previous studies have explored eddy effects on biogeochemistry and microbial community composition but not on the molecular composition of particulate organic matter. This study reports the absolute concentration of 67 metabolites and relative abundances for 640 molecular features, measured using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) following both targeted and untargeted approaches. This approach allowed us to better understand how mesoscale eddies impact the metabolome of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre during two cruises in 2017 and 2018. We find that many metabolites track biomass trends, but metabolites like isethionic acid, homarine, and trigonelline linked to eukaryotic phytoplankton were enriched at the deep chlorophyll maximum of the cyclonic features, while degradation products such as arsenobetaine were enriched in anticyclones. In every analysis, the metabolites with the strongest responses were identified using LC-MS through untargeted metabolomics approaches, highlighting that the molecules most sensitive to environmental perturbation were not among the previously characterized metabolome. By analyzing depth variability (accounting for 20-40% of metabolomic variability across ~150 meters) and the vertical displacement of isopycnal surfaces (explaining 10-20% of variability across a sea level anomaly range of 40 centimeters and a spatial distance of 300 kilometers), this analysis constrains the importance of mesoscale eddies in shaping the chemical composition of particulate matter in the largest biomes on the planet.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1481409/fullmass spectrometrymesoscale eddiesmicrobialmetabolomicsNorth Pacific Subtropical Gyresea level anomalies
spellingShingle William Kumler
Wei Qin
Rachel A. Lundeen
Benedetto Barone
Laura T. Carlson
Anitra E. Ingalls
Metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
Frontiers in Marine Science
mass spectrometry
mesoscale eddies
microbial
metabolomics
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
sea level anomalies
title Metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
title_full Metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
title_fullStr Metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
title_full_unstemmed Metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
title_short Metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
title_sort metabolites reflect variability introduced by mesoscale eddies in the north pacific subtropical gyre
topic mass spectrometry
mesoscale eddies
microbial
metabolomics
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
sea level anomalies
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1481409/full
work_keys_str_mv AT williamkumler metabolitesreflectvariabilityintroducedbymesoscaleeddiesinthenorthpacificsubtropicalgyre
AT weiqin metabolitesreflectvariabilityintroducedbymesoscaleeddiesinthenorthpacificsubtropicalgyre
AT rachelalundeen metabolitesreflectvariabilityintroducedbymesoscaleeddiesinthenorthpacificsubtropicalgyre
AT benedettobarone metabolitesreflectvariabilityintroducedbymesoscaleeddiesinthenorthpacificsubtropicalgyre
AT lauratcarlson metabolitesreflectvariabilityintroducedbymesoscaleeddiesinthenorthpacificsubtropicalgyre
AT anitraeingalls metabolitesreflectvariabilityintroducedbymesoscaleeddiesinthenorthpacificsubtropicalgyre