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Effect of Temperature on the Release of Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP) and Aggregation by Marine Diatoms (Thalassiosira weissflogii and Skeletonema marinoi)

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Abstract

The presence of diatoms is accompanied by the production of a large amount of extracellular polymeric substances, which are mainly composed of carbohydrates. Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) are a large class of extracellular polymeric substances with high stickiness that promotes the formation of aggregates and marine snow, which affects marine bio-carbon pump efficiency. The purpose of this research was to determine how temperature increases affect the allocation of cellular carbohydrates and the formation and aggregation of TEP. The results showed that the responses of two different diatom species (Thalassiosira weissflogii and Skeletonema marinoi) differed according to temperature. The cell density and chlorophyll a concentration of the former were not significantly correlated with temperature, while those of the latter were significantly decreased with increasing temperature. This indicates that the two species of diatom may have different heat tolerance ranges. A temperature increase will promote significant formation of TEP by both types of diatoms, including aggregation of S. marinoi as the temperature rises, meaning that the high temperature will produce an aggregate with a larger particle size and thus may increase the sedimentation rate of organic carbon. Moreover, the TEP aggregation of T. weissflogii did not increase; therefore, its particle size was smaller, and so it may remain on the sea surface at high temperatures for longer periods. These influences have a profound impact on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31500411), the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region International Platform Project (No. 2019AC17008), the Guangxi Beihai Science and Technology Research Focus (Nos. 201995048 202082021 and 2019D05), the U. S. National Science Foundation (No. OCE 0726369), the Special Fund for Asian Regional Cooperation ‘2019 China-ASEAN Marine Science and Technology Cooperation Seminar Project’, the China Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cooperation Fund Project ‘APEC Typical Regional Coral Reef Ecosystem Comprehensive Assessment Technology and Management Cooperation Research’ and the ‘Bilateral and Multilateral International Cooperation’ Project of the Central Financial Allocation Program in 2019 and 2020.

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  1. Fourth Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beihai, 536007, China

    Jie Chen, Kangli Guo & Yi Wu

  2. Department of Oceanography, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, 77843, USA

    Jie Chen & Daniel C. O. Thornton

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  1. Jie Chen
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Chen, J., Guo, K., Thornton, D.C.O. et al. Effect of Temperature on the Release of Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP) and Aggregation by Marine Diatoms (Thalassiosira weissflogii and Skeletonema marinoi). J. Ocean Univ. China 20, 56–66 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-021-4528-3

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