Insights into global diatom distribution and diversity in the world’s ocean
Type
ArticleAuthors
Malviya, ShrutiScalco, Eleonora
Audic, Stéphane
Vincent, Flora
Veluchamy, Alaguraj

Poulain, Julie
Wincker, Patrick
Iudicone, Daniele
de Vargas, Colomban
Bittner, Lucie
Zingone, Adriana
Bowler, Chris
KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) DivisionCenter for Desert Agriculture
Date
2016-02-29Online Publication Date
2016-02-29Print Publication Date
2016-03-15Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/621469
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) constitute one of the most diverse and ecologically important groups of phytoplankton. They are considered to be particularly important in nutrient-rich coastal ecosystems and at high latitudes, but considerably less so in the oligotrophic open ocean. The Tara Oceans circumnavigation collected samples from a wide range of oceanic regions using a standardized sampling procedure. Here, a total of ∼12 million diatom V9-18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) ribotypes, derived from 293 sizefractionated plankton communities collected at 46 sampling sites across the global ocean euphotic zone, have been analyzed to explore diatom global diversity and community composition. We provide a new estimate of diversity of marine planktonic diatoms at 4,748 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Based on the total assigned ribotypes, Chaetoceros was the most abundant and diverse genus, followed by Fragilariopsis, Thalassiosira, and Corethron. We found only a few cosmopolitan ribotypes displaying an even distribution across stations and high abundance, many of which could not be assigned with confidence to any known genus. Three distinct communities from South Pacific, Mediterranean, and Southern Ocean waters were identified that share a substantial percentage of ribotypes within them. Sudden drops in diversity were observed at Cape Agulhas, which separates the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and across the Drake Passage between the Atlantic and Southern Oceans, indicating the importance of these ocean circulation choke points in constraining diatom distribution and diversity. We also observed high diatom diversity in the open ocean, suggesting that diatoms may be more relevant in these oceanic systems than generally considered.Citation
Malviya S, Scalco E, Audic S, Vincent F, Veluchamy A, et al. (2016) Insights into global diatom distribution and diversity in the world’s ocean. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113: E1516–E1525. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1509523113.PubMed ID
27044109PubMed Central ID
PMC4843444Additional Links
http://www.pnas.org/content/113/16/4416ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1073/pnas.1509523113
Scopus Count
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