2024/06/10 by Juan José Pierella Karlusich, Karen Cosnier, Lucie Zinger +12 · 1 voice
Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology #Marine and coastal ecosystems #Protist diversity and phylogeny
paper · doi:10.1101/2024.06.08.598090
openalex publication_date 2024/06/10 · openalex created_date 2025/04/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Abstract Diatoms constitute one of the most diverse and ecologically important phytoplankton groups, yet their large-scale diversity patterns and drivers of abundance are unclear due to limited observations. Here, we utilize Tara Oceans molecular and morphological data, spanning pole to pole, to describe marine diatom diversity, abundance, and environmental adaptation and acclimation strategies. The dominance of diatoms among phytoplankton in terms of relative abundance and diversity was confirmed, and the most prevalent genera were Chaetoceros , Thalassiosira , Actinocyclus and Pseudo-nitzschia . We defined 25 distinct diatom communities with varying environmental preferences illustrative of different life strategies. The Arctic Ocean stands out as a diatom hotspot with 6 of the diatom communities being exclusive to it. Light harvesting and photoprotection were among the cellular functions in which natural diatom populations invested the bulk of their transcriptional efforts. This comprehensive study sheds light on marine diatom distributions, offering insights to assess impacts of global change and oceanic anthropogenic impacts.