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Production and degradation of fluorescent dissolved organic matter derived from bacteria

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Abstract

Dynamics of fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) in ocean environments has received attention over the past few decades. Although it has appeared that in situ production of oceanic FDOM is mainly due to bacteria, the production and bio- and photodegradation processes of bacterial FDOM have not been elucidated. In this study, a culture experiment with bacteria was carried out to assess the production and biodegradation processes of bacterial FDOM. Photodegradation of bacterial FDOM and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was also examined by exposure to a solar simulator. Bacterial FDOM consists of six components which were determined by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). Fluorescence intensities of protein-like FDOM increased with the bacterial biomass, but the increases of humic-like FDOM lagged behind the protein-like FDOM by 5–10 days. Exposure to simulated sunlight caused significant decreases in fluorescence intensities of all components; 52–94% of the initial intensities were lost during 24 h. While, the DOC concentration exhibited a small decrease through the experiment (1.9–11.1%). These results showed that photodegradability of bacteria derived DOC was much less than the fluorescence, indicating that the lifetime of bacteria-derived DOC is much longer than the length estimated by the fluorescence. The role of photobleached FDOM derived from bacteria may be significant in the biogeochemical cycle at the surface layer.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Chemical Analysis Division, Research Facility Center for Science and Technology, University of Tsukuba, for the use of their spectrofluorometer. This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI Grant Numbers 15K13599 and 16H02967.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Master’s Program of Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Ken Arai

  2. Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, 5-10-1, Shimoda, Shizuoka, 415-0025, Japan

    Shigeki Wada

  3. National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506, Japan

    Koichi Shimotori

  4. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Yuko Omori & Takeo Hama

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  1. Ken Arai
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Correspondence to Takeo Hama.

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Arai, K., Wada, S., Shimotori, K. et al. Production and degradation of fluorescent dissolved organic matter derived from bacteria. J Oceanogr 74, 39–52 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-017-0436-y

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