Depth-dependent transcriptomic response of diatoms during spring bloom in the western subarctic Pacific Ocean

Diatoms play important roles in primary production and carbon transportation in various environments. Large-scale diatom bloom occurs worldwide; however, metabolic responses of diatoms to environmental conditions have been little studied. Here, we targeted the Oyashio region of the western subarctic Pacific where diatoms bloom every spring and investigated metabolic response of major diatoms to bloom formation by comparing metatranscriptomes between two depths corresponding to different bloom phases. Thalassiosira nordenskioeldii and Chaetoceros debilis are two commonly occurring species at the study site. The gene expression profile was drastically different between the surface (late decline phase of the bloom; 10 m depth) and the subsurface chlorophyll maximum (SCM, initial decline phase of the bloom; 30 m depth); in particular, both species had high expression of genes for nitrate uptake at the surface, but for ammonia uptake at the SCM. Our culture experiments using T. nordenskioeldii imitating the environmental conditions showed that gene expression for nitrate and ammonia transporters was induced by nitrate addition and active cell division, respectively. These results indicate that the requirement for different nitrogen compounds is a major determinant of diatom species responses during bloom maturing.