An ecological framework for microbial metabolites in the ocean ecosystem
Abstract The ocean microbe‐metabolite network involves thousands of individual metabolites that encompass a breadth of chemical diversity and biological functions. These microbial metabolites mediate biogeochemical cycles, facilitate ecological relationships, and impact ecosystem health. While analytical advancements have begun to illuminate such roles, a challenge in navigating the deluge of marine metabolomics information is to identify a subset of metabolites that have the greatest ecosystem impact. Here, we present an ecological framework to distill knowledge of fundamental metabolites that underpin marine ecosystems. We borrow terms from macroecology that describe important species, namely “dominant,” “keystone,” and “indicator” species, and apply these designations to metabolites within the ocean microbial metabolome. These selected metabolites may shape marine community structure, function, and health and provide focal points for enhanced study of microbe‐metabolite networks. Applying ecological concepts to marine metabolites provides a path to leverage metabolomics data to better describe and predict marine microbial ecosystems.
Authors
- Frank Ferrer-González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0570-5168)
- Laurel E. Meke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1787-0171)
- Bryndan P. Durham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2253-157X)
- C. L. Fiore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4123-8416)
- Jeremy E. Schreier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8864-5599)
- Huan Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6032-6569)
- Jegan Sekar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3228-5736)
- Anitra E. Ingalls (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1953-7329)
- Amy Apprill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4249-2977)
- Sammy Pontrelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6265-8842)
- Winifred M. Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7692-9738)
- Kaijun Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7509-4900)
- Bethanie R. Edwards (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9858-9834)
- Mario Uchimiya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4802-1428)
- Angela K. Boysen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8193-630X)
- Catherine C. Bannon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8581-1069)
- Constanze Kuhlisch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7823-5382)
- Alicia M. Reigel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1309-7046)
- Erin M. Bertrand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5950-6810)
- Joshua S. Sacks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8513-0589)
- Katherine R. Heal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4504-1039)
- Randelle M. Bundy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0600-3953)
- V. R. Prabavathy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8260-040X)
- Elizabeth B. Kujawinski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8261-971X)
- Shuting Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3537-1587)
Institutions
- Florida State University (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- Planetary Science Institute (US)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US)
- University of North Carolina Wilmington (US)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Washington and Lee University (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (IN)
- Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (BE)
- University of Florida (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (DE)
- VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology (BE)
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US)
- Appalachian State University (US)
- Kean University (US)
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Pacific Lutheran University (US)
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Limnology and Oceanography Letters
- Published
- 2025-07-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.70046
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.15
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Simons Foundation
- University of Florida