Cohen, A. B., Klepac‐Ceraj, V., Bidas, K., Weber, F., Garber, A. I., Christensen, L. N., … & Taylor, G. T. (2022). Deep photoautotrophic prokaryotes contribute substantially to carbon dynamics in oxygen‐deficient waters in a permanently redox‐stratified freshwater lake. Limnology and Oceanography.
Abstract: In lakes, seasonal phytoplankton blooms and allochthonous plant debris intensify particulate organic carbon fluxes to the lakebed. Microbes associated with these particles likely vary with organic substrate lability and redox conditions.Our results challenge the paradigm that phytoplankton from the shallow photic zone are the primary contributor to the vertical flux. We suggest that photoautotrophic prokaryotes from the deep photic zone contribute significantly to deep-water carbon in this environment, and possibly in other oxygen-deficient waters with sulfidic photic zones. Furthermore, results suggest that seasonally variable terrestrial carbon and metal inputs also influence microbial diversity and function in similar systems.
