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Science 13 May 2005:
Vol. 308. no. 5724, pp. 1007 - 1010
DOI: 10.1126/science.1108925
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Reports

Two Chemically Distinct Pools of Organic Nitrogen Accumulate in the Ocean

Lihini I. Aluwihare,1* Daniel J. Repeta,2 Silvio Pantoja,3 Carl G. Johnson2

The chemical dynamics of marine dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), a reservoir featuring surface accumulations even in areas where nitrogen limits productivity, have yet to be resolved. We exploited differences in the acid lability of amide bonds within high-molecular-weight (HMW) DON to show that vertical DON profiles result in part from the presence of two chemically distinct pools of amide. Half of HMWDON in surface waters is present as N-acetyl amino polysaccharides. In contrast, nearly all deep-sea HMWDON, and therefore, most HMWDON, is present in amides that resist both chemical hydrolysis and biological degradation.

1 Geosciences Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
2 Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
3 Department of Oceanography and Fondap Copas Center, University of Concepción, Casilla 160-D, Concepción, Chile.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: laluwihare{at}ucsd.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)