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Science 27 October 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5799, pp. 649 - 652
DOI: 10.1126/science.1130657
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Reports

Bacterial Taxa That Limit Sulfur Flux from the Ocean

Erinn C. Howard,1 James R. Henriksen,1 Alison Buchan,3 Chris R. Reisch,1 Helmut Bürgmann,2 Rory Welsh,2 Wenying Ye,2 José M. González,4 Kimberly Mace,2 Samantha B. Joye,2 Ronald P. Kiene,5,6 William B. Whitman,1 Mary Ann Moran2*

Flux of dimethylsulfide (DMS) from ocean surface waters is the predominant natural source of sulfur to the atmosphere and influences climate by aerosol formation. Marine bacterioplankton regulate sulfur flux by converting the precursor dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) either to DMS or to sulfur compounds that are not climatically active. Through the discovery of a glycine cleavage T-family protein with DMSP methyltransferase activity, marine bacterioplankton in the Roseobacter and SAR11 taxa were identified as primary mediators of DMSP demethylation to methylmercaptopropionate. One-third of surface ocean bacteria harbor a DMSP demethylase homolog and thereby route a substantial fraction of global marine primary production away from DMS formation and into the marine microbial 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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