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Bacterial Taxa That Limit Sulfur Flux from the Ocean
Erinn C. Howard,1James R. Henriksen,1Alison Buchan,3Chris R. Reisch,1Helmut Bürgmann,2Rory Welsh,2Wenying Ye,2José M. González,4Kimberly Mace,2Samantha B. Joye,2Ronald P. Kiene,5,6William B. Whitman,1Mary Ann Moran2*
Flux of dimethylsulfide (DMS) from ocean surface waters is thepredominant natural source of sulfur to the atmosphere and influencesclimate by aerosol formation. Marine bacterioplankton regulatesulfur flux by converting the precursor dimethylsulfoniopropionate(DMSP) either to DMS or to sulfur compounds that are not climaticallyactive. Through the discovery of a glycine cleavage T-familyprotein with DMSP methyltransferase activity, marine bacterioplanktonin the Roseobacter and SAR11 taxa were identified as primarymediators of DMSP demethylation to methylmercaptopropionate.One-third of surface ocean bacteria harbor a DMSP demethylasehomolog and thereby route a substantial fraction of global marineprimary production away from DMS formation and into the marinemicrobial food web.
1 Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. 2 Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. 3 Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. 4 Department of Microbiology, University of La Laguna, 38071 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. 5 Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688, USA. 6 Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, AL 36528, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mmoran{at}uga.edu
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