High Resolution Biological and Physical Sampling Reveals Expression of Domoic Acid Biosynthetic Genes at Frontal Zones

Abstract

AbstractOcean microbes are the foundation of marine food webs, regulating carbon cycling and ecosystem dynamics. How they proliferate, die, move, and interact is regulated by physical, chemical, and biological factors that are dynamic and challenging to quantify in the natural environment. A significant limitation in many marine field studies is the inability to continuously sample the ever-changing ocean environment over space and time. In this study, we integrated spatiotemporal and multi-omic sample collection in an intensive sampling effort of phytoplankton ecology in Monterey Bay, California during the spring of 2021. Sampling methods coupled: (1) manual shipboard CTD sampling, (2) autonomous sampling using a Long-Range Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (LRAUV) equipped with an Environmental Sampling Processor (ESP), and (3) high-resolution physical measurements by an autonomous vertical profiler (Wirewalker). Sampling occurred as upwelling waned alongside declining domoic acid (DA) and low abundances of toxigenicPseudo-nitzschia. Conditions needed to spark a widespread and toxicPseudo-nitzschiabloom were absent, yet low-level DA was driven by similar mechanisms to those causing elevated DA. Three DA biosynthetic intermediate molecules were reported in the environment for the first time. Both shipboard and ESP sampling approaches identified DA biosynthetic gene expression at frontal zones. DA and expression ofdabA, the gene encoding the first committed step of DA biosynthesis, were higher in association with recently upwelled water that supplied nutrients for growth and DA biosynthesis. Detection of subtle variations indabgene expression in response to environmental variation provide a window into the ecological dynamics underpinning major toxic events.Graphical Abstract