Role of dimethylsulfoniopropionate as an osmoprotectant following gradual salinity shifts in the sea-ice diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara R. Lyon ◽  
Jennifer M. Bennett-Mintz ◽  
Peter A. Lee ◽  
Michael G. Janech ◽  
Giacomo R. DiTullio

Environmental context Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), a small sulfur compound biosynthesised by algae, plays an important role in global climate, particularly in polar regions. We investigated salinity effects on DMSP levels, and provide the first experimental measurements of DMSP and associated physiological changes in a polar diatom across to a range of gradual salinity shifts representative of sea-ice conditions. Quantitative estimates of DMSP in polar diatoms following salinity changes will facilitate new mathematical models to predict seasonal responses and reactions to climate change. Abstract Although extreme environmental gradients within sea-ice have been proposed to stimulate dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) accumulation in diatoms, a taxa whose temperate counterparts show relatively low concentrations, this has yet to be experimentally validated across a range of salinities representative of sea-ice conditions. The present study examined changes in DMSP concentrations in the widespread polar diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus in response to gradual salinity shifts representative of those encountered during sea-ice formation and melt. DMSP concentrations were elevated up to 127% in 70-salinity cultures. Low-salinity shifts decreased intracellular DMSP concentrations in a gradient-dependent manner that suggests DMSP recycling rather than release under milder hyposalinity shifts. Permeable membranes were detected in ~45% of 10-salinity cells; therefore, loss of membrane integrity may only partially explain DMSP release in the lowest-salinity group. Growth rates, photosynthetic efficiency of photosystem II and reactive oxygen species detection indicated only partial impairment by salinity stress in this organism. Thus, experimental evidence supports the role of DMSP as a compatible solute in the acclimation of a sea-ice diatom across large salinity gradients and measurements of associated physiological changes will improve interpretation of environmental measurements.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Meredith ◽  
Martin Sommerkorn ◽  
Sandra Cassotta ◽  
Chris Derksen ◽  
Alexey Ekaykin ◽  
...  

<p>Climate change in the polar regions exerts a profound influence both locally and over all of our planet.  Physical and ecosystem changes influence societies and economies, via factors that include food provision, transport and access to non-renewable resources.  Sea level, global climate and potentially mid-latitude weather are influenced by the changing polar regions, through coupled feedback processes, sea ice changes and the melting of snow and land-based ice sheets and glaciers.</p><p>Reflecting this importance, the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) features a chapter highlighting past, ongoing and future change in the polar regions, the impacts of these changes, and the possible options for response.  The role of the polar oceans, both in determining the changes and impacts in the polar regions and in structuring the global influence, is an important component of this chapter.</p><p>With emphasis on the Southern Ocean and through comparison with the Arctic, this talk will outline key findings from the polar regions chapter of SROCC. It will synthesise the latest information on the rates, patterns and causes of changes in sea ice, ocean circulation and properties. It will assess cryospheric driving of ocean change from ice sheets, ice shelves and glaciers, and the role of the oceans in determining the past and future evolutions of polar land-based ice. The implications of these changes for climate, ecosystems, sea level and the global system will be outlined.</p>


Microbiology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 151 (7) ◽  
pp. 2487-2497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Vianney ◽  
Grégory Jubelin ◽  
Sophie Renault ◽  
Corine Dorel ◽  
Philippe Lejeune ◽  
...  

Curli are necessary for the adherence of Escherichia coli to surfaces, and to each other, during biofilm formation, and the csgBA and csgDEFG operons are both required for their synthesis. A recent survey of gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms has identified tolA as a gene activated in biofilms. The tol genes play a fundamental role in maintaining the outer-membrane integrity of Gram-negative bacteria. RcsC, the sensor of the RcsBCD phosphorelay, is involved, together with RcsA, in colanic acid capsule synthesis, and also modulates the expression of tolQRA and csgDEFG. In addition, the RcsBCD phosphorelay is activated in tol mutants or when Tol proteins are overexpressed. These results led the authors to investigate the role of the tol genes in biofilm formation in laboratory and clinical isolates of E. coli. It was shown that the adherence of cells was lowered in the tol mutants. This could be the result of a drastic decrease in the expression of the csgBA operon, even though the expression of csgDEFG was slightly increased under such conditions. It was also shown that the Rcs system negatively controls the expression of the two csg operons in an RcsA-dependent manner. In the tol mutants, activation of csgDEFG occurred via OmpR and was dominant upon repression by RcsB and RcsA, while these two regulatory proteins repressed csgBA through a dominant effect on the activator protein CsgD, thus affecting curli synthesis. The results demonstrate that the Rcs system, previously known to control the synthesis of the capsule and the flagella, is an additional component involved in the regulation of curli. Furthermore, it is shown that the defect in cell motility observed in the tol mutants depends on RcsB and RcsA.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Ionita ◽  
Klaus Grosfeld ◽  
Patrick Scholz ◽  
Renate Treffeisen ◽  
Gerrit Lohmann

Abstract. Sea ice in both Polar Regions is an important indicator for the expression of global climate change and its polar amplification. Consequently, a broad interest exists on sea ice coverage, variability and long term change. However, its predictability is complex and it depends on various atmospheric and oceanic parameters. In order to provide insights into the potential development of a monthly/seasonal signal of sea ice evolution, we developed a robust statistical model based on oceanic and different atmospheric variables to calculate an estimate of the September sea ice extent (SSIE) on monthly time scale. Although previous statistical attempts of monthly/seasonal SSIE forecasts show a relatively reduced skill, when the trend is removed, we show here that the September sea ice extent has a high predictive skill, up to 4 months ahead, based on previous months' atmospheric and oceanic conditions. Our statistical model skillfully captures the interannual variability of the SSIE and could provide a valuable tool for identifying relevant regions and atmospheric parameters that are important for the sea ice development in the Arctic and for detecting sensitive and critical regions in global coupled climate models with focus on sea ice formation.


MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-308
Author(s):  
NILAY SHARMA ◽  
M. K. DASH ◽  
P. C. PANDEY ◽  
N. K. VYAS

The ice covered regions of the polar seas influence the global climate in several ways. Any perturbation in the polar oceanic cryosphere affects the local weather and the global climate through modulation of the radiative forcing, the bottom water formation and the mass & the momentum transfer between Atmosphere-Cryosphere-Ocean System. The cold, harsh and inhospitable conditions in the polar regions prohibit the collection of extensive in situ data with sufficient spatial and temporal variation. However, satellite remote sensing is an ideal technique for studying the areas like the polar regions with synoptic and repetitive coverage.  This paper discusses the analysis of the data obtained over the polar oceanic regions during the period June 1999 – September 2001 through the use of Multi-channel Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR), onboard India’s first oceanographic satellite Oceansat-1. The MSMR observation shows that all the sectors in the Antarctic behave differently to the melting and formation of the sea ice. Certain peculiar features like the increase in sea ice extent during the melt season of 1999 – 2000 in the Indian Ocean sector, 15 – 20% decrease in the sea ice extent in the western Pacific sector during the ice formation period for the year 2000, melting spell within the formation phase of sea ice in B & A sector in the year 2000 were observed. On the other hand the northern polar sea ice extent is seen to be more dominated by the land characteristics. The ice formation in Kara and the Barent Sea sector is dominated by the ocean currents, where as the ice covered in the Japan and the Okhotsk Sea is dominated by the land processes. The sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean show fluctuations from July to October and remain almost steady over other months. The global sea ice cover shows a formation phase from March to June and melting phase from November to February. In other months, i.e., from July – October the global sea ice cover is dominated by the hemispheric asymmetry of the ice growth and retreat.


Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lannuzel ◽  
M. Vancoppenolle ◽  
P. van der Merwe ◽  
J. de Jong ◽  
K.M. Meiners ◽  
...  

Abstract The discovery that melting sea ice can fertilize iron (Fe)-depleted polar waters has recently fostered trace metal research efforts in sea ice. The aim of this review is to summarize and synthesize the current understanding of Fe biogeochemistry in sea ice. To do so, we compiled available data on particulate, dissolved, and total dissolvable Fe (PFe, DFe and TDFe, respectively) from sea-ice studies from both polar regions and from sub-Arctic and northern Hemisphere temperate areas. Data analysis focused on a circum-Antarctic Fe dataset derived from 61 ice cores collected during 10 field expeditions carried out between 1997 and 2012 in the Southern Ocean. Our key findings are that 1) concentrations of all forms of Fe (PFe, DFe, TDFe) are at least a magnitude larger in fast ice and pack ice than in typical Antarctic surface waters; 2) DFe, PFe and TDFe behave differently when plotted against sea-ice salinity, suggesting that their distributions in sea ice are driven by distinct, spatially and temporally decoupled processes; 3) DFe is actively extracted from seawater into growing sea ice; 4) fast ice generally has more Fe-bearing particles, a finding supported by the significant negative correlation observed between both PFe and TDFe concentrations in sea ice and water depth; 5) the Fe pool in sea ice is coupled to biota, as indicated by the positive correlations of PFe and TDFe with chlorophyll a and particulate organic carbon; and 6) the vast majority of DFe appears to be adsorbed onto something in sea ice. This review also addresses the role of sea ice as a reservoir of Fe and its role in seeding seasonally ice-covered waters. We discuss the pivotal role of organic ligands in controlling DFe concentrations in sea ice and highlight the uncertainties that remain regarding the mechanisms of Fe incorporation in sea ice.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 8185-8207 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Spolaor ◽  
P. Vallelonga ◽  
J. Gabrieli ◽  
T. Martma ◽  
M. P. Björkman ◽  
...  

Abstract. The atmospheric chemistry of iodine and bromine in polar regions is of interest due to the key role of halogens in many atmospheric processes, particularly tropospheric ozone destruction. Bromine is emitted from the open ocean but is enriched above first-year sea ice during springtime bromine explosion events, whereas iodine is emitted from biological communities hosted by sea ice. It has been previously demonstrated that bromine and iodine are present in Antarctic ice over glacial-interglacial cycles. Here we investigate seasonal variability of bromine and iodine in polar snow and ice, to evaluate their emission, transport and deposition in Antarctica and the Arctic and better understand potential links to sea ice. We find that bromine enrichment (relative to sea salt content) and iodine concentrations in polar ice do vary seasonally in Arctic snow and Antarctic ice and we relate such variability to satellite-based observations of tropospheric halogen concentrations. Peaks of bromine enrichment in Arctic snow and Antarctic ice occur in spring and summer, when sunlight is present. Iodine concentrations are largest in winter Antarctic ice strata, contrary to contemporary observations of summer maxima in iodine emissions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederik Kreß ◽  
Maximilian Semmling ◽  
Estel Cardellach ◽  
Weiqiang Li ◽  
Mainul Hoque ◽  
...  

<p>In current times of a changing global climate, a special interest is focused on the<br>large-scale recording of sea ice. Among the existing remote sensing methods, bi-<br>statically reflected signals of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) could<br>play an important role in fulfilling the task. Within this project, sensitivity of<br>GNSS signal reflections to sea ice properties like its occurrence, sea ice thick-<br>ness (SIT) and sea concentration (SIC) is evaluated. When getting older, sea<br>ice tends go get thicker. Because of decreasing salinity, i.e. less permittivity,<br>as well as relatively higher surface roughness of older ice, it can be assumed<br>that reflected signal strength decreases with increasing SIT. The reflection data<br>used were recorded in the years 2015 and 2016 by the TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1)<br>satellite over the Arctic and Antarctic. It includes a down-looking antenna for<br>the reflected as well as an up-looking antenna dedicated to receive the direct sig-<br>nal. The raw data, provided by the manufacturer SSTL, were pre-processed by<br>IEEC/ICE-CSIC to derive georeferenced signal power values. The reflectivity<br>was estimated by comparing the power of the up- and down-looking links. The<br>project focuses on the signal link budget to apply necessary corrections. For this<br>reason, the receiver antenna gain as well as the Free-Space Path Loss (FSPL)<br>were calculated and applied for reflectivity correction. Differences of nadir and<br>zenith antenna FSPL and gain show influence of up to 6 dB and −9 dB to 9 dB<br>respectively on the recorded signal strength. All retrieved reflectivity values are<br>compared to model predictions based on Fresnel coefficients but also to avail-<br>able ancillary truth data of other remote sensing missions to identify possible<br>patterns: SIT relations are investigated using Level-2 data of the Soil Moisture<br>and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite. The SIC comparison was done with an<br>AMSR-2 product. The results show sensitivity of the reflectivity value to both<br>SIT and SIC simultaneously, whereby the surface roughness is also likely to<br>have an influence. This on-going study aims at the consolidation of retrieval<br>algorithms for sea-ice observation. The resolution of different ice types and the<br>retrieval of SIT and SIC based on satellite data is a challenge for future work<br>in this respect.</p>


1987 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 244-244
Author(s):  
Mark R. Anderson

The ablation of sea ice is an important feature in the global climate system. During the melt season in the Arctic, rapid changes occur in sea-ice surface conditions and areal extent of ice. These changes alter the albedo and vary the energy budgets. Understanding the spatial and temporal variations of melt is critical in the polar regions. This study investigates the spring onset of melt in the seasonal sea-ice zone of the Arctic Basin through the use of a melt signature derived by Anderson and others from the Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) data. The signature is recognized in the “gradient ratio” of the 18 and 37 GHz vertical brightness temperatures used to distinguish multi-year ice. A spuriously high fraction of multi-year ice appears rapidly during the initial melt of sea ice, when the snow-pack on the ice surface has started to melt. The brightness-temperature changes are a result of either enlarged snow crystals or incipient puddles forming at the snow/ice interface.The timing of these melt events varies geographically and with time. Within the Arctic Basin, the melt signatures are observed first in the Chukchi and Kara/Barents Seas. As the melt progresses, the location of the melt signature moves westward from the Chukchi Sea and eastward from the Kara/Barents Seas to the Laptev Sea region. The timing of the melt signal also varies with year. For example, the melt signature occurred first in the Chukchi Sea in 1979, while in 1980 the signature was first observed in the Kara Sea.There are also differences in the timing of melt for specific geographic locations between years. The melt signature varied almost 25 days in the Chukchi Sea region between 1979 and 1980. The other areas had changes in the 7–10 day range.The occurrence of these melt signatures can be used as an indicator of climate variability in the seasonal sea-ice zones of the Arctic. The timing of the microwave melt signature has also been examined in relation to melt observed on short-wave imagery. The melt events derived from the SMMR data are also related to the large-scale climate conditions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document