Unveiling the link between phytoplankton molecular physiology and biogeochemical cycling via genome-scale modeling
Earth system models (ESMs) highly simplify their representation of biological processes, leading to major uncertainty in the impacts of climate change. Despite a growing understanding of molecular networks from genomic data, describing how changing phytoplankton physiology affects biogeochemical processes remains elusive. Here, we embed genome-scale models within a state-of-the-art ESM to deliver an integrated understanding of how gradients of nutrients modulate the molecular physiology of various plankton. In particular, when applied to <i>Prochlorococcus</i>, we find that glycogen and lipid management can be interpreted in terms of acclimation to different environments. Generalized to other phytoplankton such as the diatom <i>Thalassiosira</i>, we estimate the production of 39 metabolites that constitute hot spots of dissolved organic carbon described by their amount of carbon produced and their diversity of associated metabolites in ESMs. This modeling approach shows how genome scale-enabled ESMs have the potential to advance our understanding of microbial ecosystem functioning in ocean biogeochemical processes.
Authors
- Laurent Mémery (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6593-7222)
- Lionel Guidi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6669-5744)
- George A. Jackson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5812-4290)
- Chris Bowler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3835-6187)
- Alessandro Tagliabue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3572-3634)
- Olivier Aumont (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3954-506X)
- Damien Eveillard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8162-7360)
- Antoine Régimbeau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0456-6717)
- Eric Karsenti
Institutions
- École Centrale de Nantes (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Ifremer (FR)
- Inserm (FR)
- Université de Bretagne Occidentale (FR)
- École Normale Supérieure - PSL (FR)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes (FR)
- Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure (FR)
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (FR)
- Océanopolis (FR)
- Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (FR)
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche (FR)
- Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (FR)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- Texas A&M University (US)
- Nantes Université (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-06-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adq3593
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 10.30