title: High rate of uptake of organic nitrogen compounds by Prochlorococcus cyanobacteria as a key to their dominance in oligotrophic oceanic waters.
abstract: Direct evidence that marine cyanobacteria take up organic nitrogen compounds in situ at high rates is reported. About 33% of the total bacterioplankton turnover of amino acids, determined with a representative [(35)S]methionine precursor and flow sorting, can be assigned to Prochlorococcus spp. and 3% can be assigned to Synechococcus spp. in the oligotrophic and mesotrophic parts of the Arabian Sea, respectively. This finding may provide a mechanism for Prochlorococcus' competitive dominance over both strictly autotrophic algae and other bacteria in oligotrophic regions sustained by nutrient remineralization via a microbial loop.
authors.affiliation: Southampton Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom. mvz@soc.soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mikhail V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Zubkov
authors.forename: Bernhard M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Glen A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Tarran
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Burkill
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Amann
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D052160:Benzothiazoles; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D003959:Diamines; D017753:Ecosystem; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000378:metabolism; D008715:Methionine / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000378:metabolism*; D010933:Plankton / Q000378:metabolism; D011804:Quinolines; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013462:Sulfur Radioisotopes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D052160:Benzothiazoles; D003959:Diamines; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011804:Quinolines; D013462:Sulfur Radioisotopes; C098022:SYBR Green I; D008715:Methionine; D009584:Nitrogen