Prokaryotic Life in the Deep Ocean's Water Column

Author(s)
Gerhard J Herndl, Barbara Bayer, Federico Baltar, Thomas Reinthaler
Abstract

The oceanic waters below a depth of 200 m represent, in terms of volume, the largest habitat of the biosphere, harboring approximately 70% of the prokaryotic biomass in the oceanic water column. These waters are characterized by low temperature, increasing hydrostatic pressure, and decreasing organic matter supply with depth. Recent methodological advances in microbial oceanography have refined our view of the ecology of prokaryotes in the dark ocean. Here, we review the ecology of prokaryotes of the dark ocean, present data on the biomass distribution and heterotrophic and chemolithoautotrophic prokaryotic production in the major oceanic basins, and highlight the phylogenetic and functional diversity of this part of the ocean. We describe the connectivity of surface and deep-water prokaryotes and the molecular adaptations of piezophilic prokaryotes to high hydrostatic pressure. We also highlight knowledge gaps in the ecology of the dark ocean's prokaryotes and their role in the biogeochemical cycles in the largest habitat of the biosphere. Expected final online publication date for the

Annual Review of Marine Science, Volume 15 is January 2023. Please see www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Organisation(s)
Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science
External organisation(s)
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Medizinische Universität Wien
Journal
Annual review of marine science
Volume
15
Pages
461-483
No. of pages
23
ISSN
1941-1405
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-032122-115655
Publication date
07-2022
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
106021 Marine biology, 106022 Microbiology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Oceanography
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/prokaryotic-life-in-the-deep-oceans-water-column(52247514-1c0b-471d-90f0-5c4faaf93d43).html