title: Microbial community transcriptional networks are conserved in three domains at ocean basin scales.
abstract: Planktonic microbial communities in the ocean are typically dominated by several cosmopolitan clades of Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya characterized by their ribosomal RNA gene phylogenies and genomic features. Although the environments these communities inhabit range from coastal to open ocean waters, how the biological dynamics vary between such disparate habitats is not well known. To gain insight into the differential activities of microbial populations inhabiting different oceanic provinces we compared the daily metatranscriptome profiles of related microbial populations inhabiting surface waters of both a coastal California upwelling region (CC) as well as the oligotrophic North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). Transcriptional networks revealed that the dominant photoautotrophic microbes in each environment (Ostreococcus in CC, Prochlorococcus in NPSG) were central determinants of overall community transcriptome dynamics. Furthermore, heterotrophic bacterial clades common to both ecosystems (SAR11, SAR116, SAR86, SAR406, and Roseobacter) displayed conserved, genome-wide inter- and intrataxon transcriptional patterns and diel cycles. Populations of SAR11 and SAR86 clades in particular exhibited tightly coordinated transcriptional patterns in both coastal and pelagic ecosystems, suggesting that specific biological interactions between these groups are widespread in nature. Our results identify common diurnally oscillating behaviors among diverse planktonic microbial species regardless of habitat, suggesting that highly conserved temporally phased biotic interactions are ubiquitous among planktonic microbial communities worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (C-MORE), University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822;
authors.forename: Frank O
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Aylward
authors.affiliation: Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (C-MORE), University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822;
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Eppley
authors.affiliation: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA 95039;
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3452-6460
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA 95039;
authors.forename: Francisco P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Chavez
authors.affiliation: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA 95039;
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Scholin
authors.affiliation: Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (C-MORE), University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139; and Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 edelong@hawaii.edu.
authors.forename: Edward F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: DeLong
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000502:physiology*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D048929:Prochlorococcus / Q000502:physiology*; D041904:Roseobacter / Q000502:physiology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D014871:Water Microbiology
keywords: bacterioplankton; diel cycles; microbial oceanography; systems biology; transcriptional networks