The dynamic trophic architecture of open-ocean protist communities revealed through machine-guided metatranscriptomics

Abstract

Significance Mixotrophy is a ubiquitous nutritional strategy in marine ecosystems. Although our understanding of the distribution and abundance of mixotrophic plankton has improved significantly, the functional roles of mixotrophs are difficult to pinpoint, as mixotroph nutritional strategies are flexible and form a continuum between heterotrophy and phototrophy. We developed a machine learning–based method to assess the nutritional strategies of in situ planktonic populations based on metatranscriptomic profiles. We demonstrate that mixotrophic populations play varying functional roles along physicochemical gradients in the North Pacific Ocean, revealing a degree of physiological plasticity unique to aquatic mixotrophs. Our results highlight mechanisms that may dictate the flow of biogeochemical elements and ecology of the North Pacific Ocean, one of Earth's largest biogeographical provinces.