Article
Environmental Sciences
Naama Lang-Yona, J. Michel Flores, Rotem Haviv, Adriana Alberti, Julie Poulain, Caroline Belser, Miri Trainic, Daniella Gat, Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh, Patrick Wincker, Shinichi Sunagawa, Yinon Rudich, Ilan Koren, Assaf Vardi
Summary: The diversity of microbes and their transmission between ocean and atmosphere are poorly understood. This study explores the genetic diversity of airborne and surface ocean bacterial communities and finds that microbial community composition is more variable in the atmosphere than in the surface ocean. Regional differences in long-range microbial exchange and dispersal between land, ocean, and atmosphere are highlighted.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Limnology
Yuqiu Wei, Jun Sun, Liuyang Li, Zhengguo Cui
Summary: In nutrient-depleted waters, the cellular silicon content of Synechococcus varies greatly, with lower average values in the eastern Indian Ocean compared to the western Pacific Ocean. Synechococcus has a small but persistent contribution to biogenic silicon stocks, accounting for 2-3% of the global ocean diatom silicon stock.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Maria del Carmen Munoz-Marin, Solange Duhamel, Karin M. Bjorkman, Jonathan D. Magasin, Jesus Diez, David M. Karl, Jose M. Garcia-Fernandez
Summary: The marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus can assimilate glucose as a source of carbon, and its assimilation is influenced by photosynthetic light reactions. The timing of glucose assimilation in Prochlorococcus is different from that of other microbial populations. Transcriptional changes in specific genes indicate the importance of mixotrophic carbon assimilation by Prochlorococcus. This study provides insights into the ecological role of Prochlorococcus in the marine ecosystem.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Kimberley L. Drouin, M. Susan Lozier, Francisco J. Beron-Vera, Philippe Miron, Maria J. Olascoaga
Summary: This study reveals two dominant surface pathways connecting the North Brazil Current (NBC) and the North Atlantic. The traditional pathway passes through the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, while the second pathway is a direct route east of the Caribbean.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ryan E. Truchelut, Philip J. Klotzbach, Erica M. Staehling, Kimberly M. Wood, Daniel J. Halperin, Carl J. Schreck, Eric S. Blake
Summary: In recent decades, the North Atlantic hurricane seasons have been starting earlier, which is linked to warmer spring sea surface temperatures. Pre-season and early-season tropical cyclones have had significant impacts on populated areas, particularly in terms of precipitation. This trend is associated with more favorable thermodynamic conditions for tropical cyclone formation.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ruiqiang Ding, Hyacinth C. Nnamchi, Jin-Yi Yu, Tim Li, Cheng Sun, Jianping Li, Yu-Heng Tseng, Xichen Li, Fei Xie, Juan Feng, Kai Ji, Xumin Li
Summary: The connection between the North Tropical Atlantic (NTA) sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events varies considerably over multidecadal timescales and is mainly controlled by the multidecadal variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). During the positive phase of the NAO, the NTA impact on ENSO is amplified due to strengthening of precipitation over the equatorial Atlantic and enhancement of the persistence of NTA SST anomalies.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Oceanography
Shoichiro Kido, Shota Katsura, Masami Nonaka, Youichi Tanimoto
Summary: This study investigated the seasonal variations in sea surface salinity (SSS) in the subtropical North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans and found significant differences between the western and eastern parts of the basins. These variations have important impacts on surface density and result in changes in temperature. Analysis further revealed that the seasonal differences are attributed to variations in freshwater flux and mixed layer depth.
PROGRESS IN OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Adam J. Smyth, Robert T. Letscher
Summary: This study assessed the spatial and temporal variability of PreNO3 anomalies in the subsurface of the subtropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans using observations from twenty Biogeochemical Argo profiling floats. The results showed consistent observations of positive residual PreNO3 anomalies in the euphotic zone and negative PreNO3 anomalies in the subsurface between 40 degrees S and 40 degrees N. The formation of these anomalies is likely influenced by vertically migrating phytoplankton and the remineralization of N-deficient transparent exopolymer particles (TEP), with regional variance suggesting different contributions in the North Pacific and North Atlantic.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Zhen Lv, Jun-Chao Yang, Xiaopei Lin, Yu Zhang
Summary: This study suggests that the North Atlantic forcing plays a more significant role than the tropical Pacific forcing in the decadal prediction of sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the North Pacific. By removing the North Atlantic forcing, the prediction skill of NP SST decreases, indicating its strong contribution to the long-term prediction. The research emphasizes the need for improving the simulation of the Atlantic trans-basin effect for better predicting NP climate.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Yunha Hwang, Peter R. Girguis
Summary: This study investigated the population-level genetic diversity of marine microbes and found differences in genetic diversification between different ocean basins, potentially due to variations in nutrient availability and environmental fluctuations.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Jin-Sil Hong, Sang-Wook Yeh, Young-Min Yang
Summary: The authors investigated the interbasin interactions between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans based on the phase relationship of Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO)/Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO). They found that the characteristics of the interactions depend on whether the PDO and AMO phases are in phase or out of phase.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
R. Shuttleworth, H. C. Bostock, T. B. Chalk, E. Calvo, S. L. Jaccard, C. Pelejero, A. Martinez-Garcia, G. L. Foster
Summary: Research indicates that there were two transient intervals of pronounced atmospheric CO2 rise during the last deglaciation, possibly due to deep ocean carbon release from the Southern Ocean and a decline in global efficiency of the biological carbon pump. The Sub-Antarctic region experienced upwelling of carbon-rich water during Heinrich Stadial 1, contributing to the initial increase in atmospheric CO2, but there was no significant outgassing of deep ocean carbon from this region during other periods.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Limnology
Anne W. Thompson, Kathleen Kouba, Nathan A. Ahlgren
Summary: High-throughput cyanobacterial-specific sequencing revealed extensive diversity and strong latitudinal partitioning of subecotype populations within low-light (LL) Prochlorococcus ecotypes in the North Pacific Subtropical Front region. Despite consistent patterns at the broader level of LL ecotypes, significant differences were found at the subecotype level. This study expands understanding of the diversity and complexity of Prochlorococcus community structure over oceanographic gradients.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Jae-Heung Park, Sang-Wook Yeh, Jong-Seong Kug, Young-Min Yang, Hyun-Su Jo, Hyo-Jeong Kim, Soon-Il An
Summary: Understanding the interactions between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is crucial for global climate. Through analyzing datasets from 1948 to 2020, two regimes of inter-basin interactions were identified: the Pacific-driven regime and the Atlantic-driven regime. In the Pacific-driven regime before the mid-1980s, El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) effectively influenced the sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) in the tropical Atlantic, while in the Atlantic-driven regime after the mid-1980s, the ENSO effect weakened, resulting in a monopole SSTA pattern. Further analysis using climate models supports the hypothesis that these two regimes are likely caused by natural variability.
NPJ CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Daniel J. Befort, Kevin Hodges, Antje Weisheimer
Summary: This study analyzed seasonal forecasting models from five European modeling centers to study tropical cyclones over the western North Pacific and North Atlantic basins. The models were able to capture the observed seasonal cycle of cyclone frequencies, but there were large differences in numbers and spatial track densities. While predictions for the western North Pacific basin were often unreliable, most models provided reliable predictions for the North Atlantic basin and were skillful in predicting interannual cyclone variability in a region covering the Caribbean and North American coastline.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Zhao Wang, Despina Tsementzi, Tiffany C. Williams, Doris L. Juarez, Sara K. Blinebry, Nathan S. Garcia, Brooke K. Sienkiewicz, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Zackary I. Johnson, Dana E. Hunt
Summary: The study found that microbial communities in offshore environments are more sensitive to warming compared to those in less variable environments. Warming significantly alters microbial community composition, while acidification has a minor impact. Increased temperatures lead to changes in metabolism and gene expression in offshore microbes.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Matthew H. Seabolt, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Dawn M. Roellig
Summary: Giardia duodenalis assemblage B is a major waterborne pathogen causing human giardiasis, and this study identified three new markers for a high-resolution molecular typing scheme. The genomes of assemblage B can be classified into 16 clonal complexes with unique gene content related to virulence and ecology. The methods described in this study are expected to be widely applicable to other pathogens, advancing our understanding of their ecology and evolution.
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Alexandra Meziti, Luis M. Rodriguez-R, Janet K. Hatt, Angela Pena-Gonzalez, Karen Levy, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
Summary: Recovery of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from metagenomic data is common in microbial studies, but the quality of MAGs may be worse than estimated. Strategies to recognize and improve MAGs are crucial for accurate downstream analyses.
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Drew Capone, David Berendes, Oliver Cumming, David Holcomb, Jackie Knee, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Karen Levy, Rassul Nala, Benjamin B. Risk, Jill Stewart, Joe Brown
Summary: The intervention reduced the probability and total number of enteric pathogens in soil, but pathogen detection remained prevalent in the domestic environment 24 months after the intervention.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Patrick Heritier-Robbins, Smruthi Karthikeyan, Janet K. Hatt, Minjae Kim, Markus Huettel, Joel E. Kostka, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Luis M. Rodriguez-R
Summary: The study tested the specialization-disturbance hypothesis on beach sands disturbed by DWH crude oil in laboratory conditions, finding that functional diversity significantly increased while taxonomic diversity significantly declined over a two-month period, supporting the hypothesis that specialist taxa decrease following disturbances.
Letter
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Luis M. Rodriguez-R, Chirag Jain, Roth E. Conrad, Srinivas Aluru, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Tomeu Viver, Roth E. Conrad, Stephanus N. Venter, Ramon Rossello-Mora
Summary: Microbial communities in manmade salterns provide an ideal system to study microbial diversity due to their reduced diversity. Recent studies have shown that the dominant bacterial and archaeal taxa in these salterns form persistent populations with sequence-discrete characteristics. Although these populations exhibit extensive gene diversity, only a small number of genes appear to be functionally important during environmental perturbations.
CURRENT OPINION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Roth E. Conrad, Tomeu Viver, Juan F. Gago, Janet K. Hatt, Stephanus N. Venter, Ramon Rossello-Mora, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
Summary: Metagenomic surveys have shown that Salinibacter ruber population maintains immense intrapopulation gene diversity with an open pangenome, similar in size to randomly sampled Escherichia coli genomes. While most accessory genes became abundant under changing salinity conditions, the ecological advantage was not strong enough to eliminate diversity within the population.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Blake G. Lindner, Brittany Suttner, Kevin J. Zhu, Roth E. Conrad, Luis M. Rodriguez-R, Janet K. Hatt, Joe Brown, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
Summary: Little is known about the genomic diversity of microbial communities associated with raw municipal wastewater. This study used influent from three wastewater treatment plants in Atlanta to examine the impacts of sewage contamination on laboratory freshwater mesocosms. It identified specific microbial populations in sewage and proposed a bioinformatic approach to identify and apportion contamination signal from multiple probable sources using shotgun metagenomic data.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Minjae Kim, Yvonne Kienast, Janet K. Hatt, Amy E. Kirby, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
Summary: Urban floodwater poses significant risks to public and environmental health due to the presence of microbial pathogens and overflow of wastewater treatment systems. A study found that floodwater after periods of drought had a 2.5-fold higher abundance of antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors compared to floodwater after regular rain events. This study also identified previously undescribed species that become mobilized after flooding events, increasing the public health risk.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kevin J. Zhu, Brittany Suttner, Jackie Knee, Drew Capone, Christine L. Moe, Christine E. Stauber, Kostas T. Konstantinidis, Thomas E. Wallach, Amy J. Pickering, Joe Brown
Summary: This study found that the concentration of human mtDNA in fecal samples from individuals with symptomatic norovirus infections was elevated, while there were no significant changes in the concentration of HF183/BacR287. These results suggest that fecal mtDNA may increase during symptomatic norovirus infection and that mtDNA in environmental samples may serve as a human source-tracking marker that correlates with the risk of exposure to enteric pathogens.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Jessica L. Gronniger, Zhao Wang, Genevieve R. Brandt, Christopher S. Ward, Despina Tsementzi, Han Mu, Junyao Gu, Zackary I. Johnson, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Dana E. Hunt
Summary: In dynamic coastal oceans, disturbances to microbial communities are not clearly linked to specific environmental factors, but rather result in changes in community composition. Disturbance events may lead to microbial community shifts through increased phage-associated genes, and extreme environmental events may not always fit the definition of disturbance.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
David R. Arahal, Hans-Juergen Busse, Carolee T. Bull, Henrik Christensen, Maria Chuvochina, Svetlana N. Dedysh, Pierre-Edouard Fournier, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Charles T. Parker, Ramon Rossello-Mora, Antonio Ventosa, Markus Goeker
Summary: This article presents several opinions regarding the naming of organisms, including the rejection of certain requests, orthographical corrections, and evaluation and clarification of rules. All of these opinions were ratified by the voting members of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Brian P. Hedlund, Maria Chuvochina, Philip Hugenholtz, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Alison E. Murray, Marike Palmer, Donovan H. Parks, Alexander J. Probst, Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Luis M. Rodriguez-R, Ramon Rossello-Mora, Iain C. Sutcliffe, Stephanus N. Venter, William B. Whitman
Summary: The SeqCode is a new nomenclature system for prokaryotes that allows naming of organisms based on their genome sequences. It operates similarly to the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) but uses the SeqCode Registry for registration, validation, and linking of names and metadata. This system provides a reproducible and objective framework for naming prokaryotes regardless of cultivability.
NATURE MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Luis M. Rodriguez-R, Roth E. Conrad, Tomeu Viver, Dorian J. Feistel, Blake G. Lindner, Stephanus N. Venter, Luis H. Orellana, Rudolf Amann, Ramon Rossello-Mora, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis
Summary: This study reveals the existence of a genetic distance gap between 99.2% and 99.8% in most bacterial species, which can be used to define intra-species units more accurately. These findings have significant implications for future epidemiological and micro-diversity studies.
