Speaker

Mak Saito, Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Adaptive Capabilities of Phytoplankton and Microbial Metallomes in a Changing Ocean

Abstract

Micronutrients play important roles in modern oceanic biological processes. Yet their use in biology is diverse and has been influenced by the surrounding environment, with major changes in metal availability occurring over Earth history. In this talk, metal nutritional controls of Eukaryotic phytoplankton in coastal Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments will be described, where increased iron inputs due to subglacial melting are inducing the emergence of new limitations for vitamin B12 and zinc. Recently discovered zinc and B12 responsive proteins in marine organisms and their role in transport and sparing will be discussed in the context of trace metal biogeochemical cycles. The observation of zinc limitation in low pCO2 coastal environments suggests it may be a previously missed widespread phenomenon in high productivity coastal environments. At the same time, continued oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 lessens the potential for zinc-carbon colimitations. The development and application of metal-protein measurement capabilities and robotic sampling systems will also be discussed.