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Diversity of Dimethylsulfoniopropionate Degradation Genes Reveals the Significance of Marine Roseobacter Clade in Sulfur Metabolism in Coastal Areas of Antarctic Maxwell Bay

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Abstract

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is an organic sulfur compound that occurs in large amounts in oceans around the world, and it plays an important role in the global sulfur cycle. DMSP released into seawater can be rapidly catabolized by bacteria via two pathways, namely, demethylation or cleavage pathway. Members of the Roseobacter clade frequently possess enzymes involved in the DMSP demethylation or cleavage pathway. We tried to measure the diversity of genes encoding DMSP demethylase (dmdA) and DMSP lyases (dddD, dddL, and dddP) in bacteria in the surface seawater of Ardley Cove and Great Wall Cove in Antarctic Maxwell Bay using DMSP degradation gene clone library analysis. Although we did not detect sequences related to the dddD or dddL gene, both bacterial dmdA and dddP genes found in the two coves were completely confined to the Roseobacter clade, which indicated that this clade plays a significant role in DMSP catabolism in the coastal seawaters of Maxwell Bay. In addition, compared with bacterial DMSP degradation genes in Arctic coastal seawater, our results suggest that both bipolar and endemic bacterial DMSP degradation genes exist in polar marine environments. The findings of this study improve our knowledge of the distribution of DMSP degradation genes in polar marine ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFC1406903) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41476171). We appreciate the assistance of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA) who organized the 28th Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition in 2011.

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  1. Key Laboratory for Polar Science of State Oceanic Administration, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, 200136, China

    Yin-Xin Zeng & Zong-Yun Qiao

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Correspondence to Yin-Xin Zeng.

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Zeng, YX., Qiao, ZY. Diversity of Dimethylsulfoniopropionate Degradation Genes Reveals the Significance of Marine Roseobacter Clade in Sulfur Metabolism in Coastal Areas of Antarctic Maxwell Bay. Curr Microbiol 76, 967–974 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-019-01709-5

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