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![10 Ocean phytoplankton containing DMSP are grazed by crustacea and release DMSP and enzymes which convert DMSP to DMS and acrylic acid. DMS is transferred to the atmosphere by air-sea exchange and in turn attracts procellariiform seabirds that forage on primary consumers such as crustacea [Source: Savoca and Nevitt (2014) and with permission from PNAS].](profile/Graham-Jones-11/publication/300114533/figure/fig9/AS:613984566779927@1523396736803/Ocean-phytoplankton-containing-DMSP-are-grazed-by-crustacea-and-release-DMSP-and-enzymes.png)
10 Ocean phytoplankton containing DMSP are grazed by crustacea and release DMSP and enzymes which convert DMSP to DMS and acrylic acid. DMS is transferred to the atmosphere by air-sea exchange and in turn attracts procellariiform seabirds that forage on primary consumers such as crustacea [Source: Savoca and Nevitt (2014) and with permission from PNAS].
Source publication
Research in the western Pacific over the last 15 years has shown that hard corals contain exceptionally high concentrations of a sulphur substance called dimethylsulphoniopropionate or DMSP which can produce a volatile sulphur substance called dimethylsulphide or DMS. Of all the different coral species, staghorn coral or Acropora species produce th...
Citations
... Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), formed by DMSP cleavage [1][2][3] , is released into the atmosphere with diurnal flux variations 4 . The release of DMS into the atmosphere causes the characteristic smell of the ocean, plays an important role in the formation of cloud condensation nuclei, and contributes to the global biogeochemical sulfur cycle [5][6][7][8] . DMS and DMSP are also important signal molecules for predatory behaviors of marine copepods, fish 9,10 , and whales 11 . ...
Phytoplanktonic dinoflagellates form colonies between vertical ice crystals during the ice-melting season in Lake Baikal, but how the plankton survive the freezing conditions is not known. Here we show that the phytoplankton produces large amounts of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), which is best-known as a marine compound. Lake-water DMSP concentrations in the spring season are comparable with those in the oceans, and colony water in ice exhibits extremely high concentrations. DMSP concentration of surface water correlates with plankton density and reaches a maximum in mid-April, with temperature-dependent fluctuations. DMSP is released from plankton cells into water in warm days. DMSP is a characteristic osmolyte of marine algae; our results demonstrate that freshwater plankton, Gymnodinium baicalense, has DMSP-producing ability, and efficiently uses the limited sulfur resource (only 1/500 of sea sulfate) to survive in freshwater ice. Plankton in Lake Baikal do not need an osmolyte, and our results clearly indicate that DMSP plays a cryoprotective role. DMSP, although a characteristic marine compound, could also be an important zwitterion for algae of other boreal lakes, alpine snow, and glaciers.
... Twomey effect (Twomey, 1997). It has further been hypothesized that the aerosol loading can also affect the 51 precipitation efficiency of these clouds, and thus their lifetime (Cropp et al., 2018; Fischer and Jones, 2012; 52 Deschaseaux et al., 2016;Jones, 2015) through an Albrecht effect (Albrecht, 1989). ...
Trade-wind clouds are ubiquitous across the subtropical oceans, including the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), playing an important role in modulating the regional energy budget. These shallow clouds, however, are by their nature sensitive to perturbations in both their thermodynamic environment and microphysical background. In this study, we employ the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with a convection-permitting configuration at 1 km resolution to examine the sensitivity of the trade-wind clouds to different local forcings over the GBR. A range of local forcings including coastal topography, sea surface temperature (SST), and local aerosol loading is examined. Our simulations show a strong response of cloud fraction and accumulated precipitation to orographic forcing both over the mountains and upwind over the GBR. Orographic lifting and low-level convergence are found to be crucial in explaining the cloud and precipitation features over the coastal mountains downwind of the GBR. However, clouds over the upwind ocean are more strongly constrained by the trade wind inversion, whose properties are, in part, regulated by the coastal topography. On the scales considered in our study, the warm cloud fraction and the ensuant precipitation over the GBR show only a small response to the local SST forcing, with this response being tied to the simulated cloud type. Cloud microphysical properties, including cloud droplet number concentration, liquid water path, and precipitation are sensitive to the changes in atmospheric aerosol population over the GBR. While cloud fraction shows little responses, a slight deepening of the simulated clouds is evident over the upwind region in correspondence to the increased aerosol number concentration. A downwind effect of aerosol loading on simulated cloud and precipitation properties is further noted.
... Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), formed by DMSP cleavage [1][2][3] , is released into the atmosphere with diurnal flux variations 4 . The release of DMS into the atmosphere causes the characteristic smell of the ocean, plays an important role in the formation of cloud condensation nuclei, and contributes to the global biogeochemical sulfur cycle [5][6][7][8] . DMS and DMSP are also important signal molecules for predatory behaviors of marine copepods, fish 9, 10 , and whales 11 . ...
Phytoplankton dinoflagellate forms colonies between vertical ice crystals during the ice-melting season in Lake Baikal: how the plankton survive the freezing conditions was previously not known. Here we show that the phytoplankton produces large amounts of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) known as a marine compound. Lake-water DMSP concentrations in the spring season are comparable with those in the oceans, and colony water in ice exhibits extremely high concentrations. DMSP concentration correlates with plankton density and reaches maximum in mid-April with exhibiting temperature-dependent fluctuations. DMSP is released from plankton cells into water in warm days. DMSP is a characteristic osmolyte of marine algae; our results demonstrate that the freshwater plankton has the DMSP-producing ability, and efficiently uses the limited sulfur resource (only 1/500 of sea sulfate) to survive in freshwater ice. Plankton in Lake Baikal do not need an osmolyte, and our results indicate that DMSP plays a purely cryoprotective role.
... Coral reefs provide key ecosystem services: biodiversity, coastal protection, biogeochemical cycling, fisheries, provision of raw materials, and cultural benefits (Woodhead et al., 2019). Recently, an ecosystem service of short-term regulation of regional climate has been suggested too, at least for the large extending Great Barrier Reef (Jones, 2015;Jackson et al., 2020). This climate effect would operate from the observed capacity of coral reefs to emit volatile sulfur in the form of dimethylsulfide (DMS). ...
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are constituents of marine ecosystems including coral reefs, where they are sources of atmospheric reactivity, indicators of ecosystem state, components of defense strategies, and infochemicals. Most VOCs result from sunlight-related processes; however, their light-driven dynamics are still poorly understood. We studied the spatial variability of a suite of VOCs, including dimethylsulfide (DMS), and the other dimethylsulfoniopropionate-derived compounds (DMSPCs), namely, DMSP, acrylate, and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), in waters around colonies of two scleractinian corals (Acropora pulchra and Pocillopora sp.) and the brown seaweed Turbinaria ornata in Mo’orean reefs, French Polynesia. Concentration gradients indicated that the corals were sources of DMSPCs, but less or null sources of VOCs other than DMS, while the seaweed was a source of DMSPCs, carbonyl sulfide (COS), and poly-halomethanes. A focused study was conducted around an A. pulchra colony where VOC and DMSPC concentrations and free-living microorganism abundances were monitored every 6 h over 30 h. DMSPC concentrations near the polyps paralleled sunlight intensity, with large diurnal increases and nocturnal decrease. rDNA metabarcoding and metagenomics allowed the determination of microbial diversity and the relative abundance of target functional genes. Seawater near coral polyps was enriched in DMS as the only VOC, plus DMSP, acrylate, and DMSO, with a large increase during the day, coinciding with high abundances of symbiodiniacean sequences. Only 10 cm below, near the coral skeleton colonized by a turf alga, DMSPC concentrations were much lower and the microbial community was significantly different. Two meters down current from the coral, DMSPCs decreased further and the microbial community was more similar to that near the polyps than that near the turf alga. Several DMSP cycling genes were enriched in near-polyp with respect to down-current waters, namely, the eukaryotic DMS production and DMS oxidation encoding genes, attributed to the coral and the algal symbiont, and the prokaryotic DMS production gene dddD, harbored by coral-associated Gammaproteobacteria. Our results suggest that solar radiation-induced oxidative stress caused the release of DMSPCs by the coral holobiont, either directly or through symbiont expulsion. Strong chemical and biological gradients occurred in the water between the coral branches, which we attribute to layered hydrodynamics.
... The atmospheric oxidation products of DMS are important sulfate aerosol precursor compound which can influence nonsea salt sulfate (nss-SO 4 ) aerosol properties (Gabric et al., 2013;Woodhouse et al., 2013;Fiddes et al., 2018;Sanchez et al., 2018;Jackson et al., 2020). It has been hypothesised that DMS emissions from coral reefs may facilitate aerosol nucleation and growth to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), influencing the lifetime and albedo of low-level clouds (LLC) over coral reefs via aerosol direct and indirect effects on the radiation budget (Fischer & Jones, 2012;Jones, 2015;Jones et al., 2017). The potential for DMS-derived sulfates to influence aerosol-cloud processes over coral reefs is dependent on the rate of DMS emission, oxidation and subsequent atmospheric processing (such as nucleation, condensation or coagulation) (Andreae & Crutzen, 1997). ...
... Therefore, we can assume that the influence of evolving DMS sea-air flux between the contemporary and end of century scenarios has a negligible influence on modelled cloud cover, PAR, SST and calculated DMS w . While it has been hypothesised that DMS emissions can influence cloud properties (Fischer & Jones, 2012;Jones, 2015;Jones et al., 2017), the change in cloud cover is only reported here to investigate changes in surface PAR. ...
Coral reefs are important regional sources of biogenic sulfur to the tropical marine atmosphere, through stress-induced emissions of dimethylsulfide (DMS). Recent estimates suggest that the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia emits 0.02-0.05 Tg yr⁻¹ of DMS (equivalent to 0.010-0.026 Tg yr⁻¹ S), with potential implications for local aerosol-cloud processes. However, the impact of ocean warming on DMS emissions from coral reefs remains uncertain, complicating efforts to improve the representation of coral reefs in DMS climatologies and climate models. We investigate the influence of predicted changes in sea surface temperature (SST), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and wind speed on contemporary DMS emissions from the GBR using model output from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). A multiple linear regression is used to calculate seawater surface DMS (DMSw) concentration in the GBR in a contemporary (2001-2020) and end-of-century (2081-2100) scenario, as simulated by CMIP6 models under a SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 Shared Socioeconomic Pathway. By the end of this century, a 1.5-3.0°C rise in annual mean SST and a 1.1-1.7 mol m⁻² d⁻¹ increase in PAR could increase DMSw concentration in the GBR by 9.2-14.5%, leading to an increase in DMS flux of 9.5-14.3%. Previous model studies have suggested that the aerosol system has a low sensitivity to relatively large changes in coral reef-derived DMS. Therefore, the predicted change in contemporary DMS emissions is unlikely to influence the regional atmosphere. Further research is needed to understand the combined effects of temperature, light, pH, salinity and ecosystem structure on DMS production in coral reefs to better predict potential changes in emissions. Nevertheless, the findings provide insight into how predicted ocean warming may affect present-day DMS emissions and the source-strength of the GBR to the atmospheric sulfur budget.
... Evaporation over shallow, warm coral reef waters contributes to the formation of a convective boundary layer (~65-130 m), with relatively high humidity and temperature that is favourable for low-level cloud formation (McGowan et al., 2019). It has been hypothesized that DMS emissions facilitate the formation of a local or regional negative feedback within the coral reef boundary layer, shading and cooling the coral reef below (Fischer and Jones, 2012;Jones, 2015;Jones et al., 2017). ...
Marine dimethylsulfide (DMS) is an important source of natural sulfur to the atmosphere, with potential implications for the Earth’s radiative balance. Coral reefs are important regional sources of DMS, yet their contribution is not accounted for in global DMS climatologies or in model simulations. This study accounts for coral-reef-derived DMS and investigates its influence on the atmosphere of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, using the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator Atmospheric Model version 2 (ACCESS-AM2). A climatology of seawater surface DMS (DMSw) concentration in the GBR and an estimate of direct coral-to-air DMS flux during coral exposure to air at low tide are incorporated into the model, increasing DMS emissions from the GBR region by 0.02 Tg yr⁻¹. Inclusion of coral-reef-derived DMS increased annual mean atmospheric DMS concentration over north-eastern Australia by 29%, contributing to an increase in gas-phase sulfate aerosol precursors of up to 18% over the GBR. The findings suggest that the GBR is an important regional source of atmospheric sulfur, with the potential to influence local-scale aerosol-cloud processes. However, no influence on sulfate aerosol mass or number concentration was detected, even with a reduction in anthropogenic sulfur dioxide emissions, indicating that DMS may not significantly influence the regional atmosphere at monthly, annual or large spatial scales. Further research is needed to improve the representation of coral-reef-derived DMS in climate models and determine its influence on local, sub-daily aerosol-cloud processes, for which observational studies suggest that DMS may play a more important role.
... Shallow cloud systems are by their nature sensitive to perturbations in both their thermodynamic environment and microphysical background in which they exist (Stevens and Brenguier, 2009). The GBR contains the world's largest complex collection of coral reefs, and it has been suggested that the coral reef emissions of dimethylsulfide (DMS) may be an important contributor to the regional atmospheric aerosol loading that can serve as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) (Fischer and Jones, 2012;Jones, 2015;Deschaseaux et al., 2016;Cropp et al., 2018). An enhanced production of CCN could, potentially, affect the formation of low-level clouds such as cumulus (Cu) and stratocumulus (Sc) clouds and change the microphysics (e.g. ...
A characterization of cloud properties associated with precipitation in the region around the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is constructed using decade‐long (2007–2017) satellite observations from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) combined with CloudSat. The spatial and vertical distributions of low‐level cloud properties over the region are also investigated and discussed. In general, different cloud types are observed over different regions and vary by season: high clouds are dominant over the low latitudes in summer, altocumulus are mainly observed over northeast Queensland and low‐level clouds are dominant over the ocean and coast during the winter months at higher latitudes under a trade wind regime. A strong latitudinal dependence of total precipitation across the Greater GBR region is identified with a significant orographic enhancement near Cairns in the wet tropics. MODIS and CloudSat‐CALIPSO cloud observations show good agreement on significant differences in low‐level cloud microphysical properties between the land and the ocean. The largest land–ocean differences in warm cloud microphysical properties are found over the mid‐latitudes near 18°S, which is strongly associated with orographic forcing, with these enhancements extending further east to the coral reef area. However, the frequency of warm cloud is not enhanced upwind of the mountains in the wet tropics. In addition, no significant differences in warm cloud properties between the actual GBR and the open ocean are identified. These results suggest that low‐level clouds over the GBR do not show any significant response to the reef‐related microphysical perturbations.
... Sulphur is required by algae for S-containing amino acids [73] and is commonly present in lipid fractions [74]. Symbiodiniaceae also utilise S in forming the compound dimethylsulphoniopropionate in high concentrations compared to other microalgae [75,76], potentially explaining the high S:P ratios in our study. Fe:P (55.7:1) across our isolates was elevated relative to previous values for Symbiodiniaceae (25-35:1 [44], ~5-25:1 [41]; see SI Fig. 7), as well as other dinoflagellates (~1.8-14:1 [66]). ...
Background
Elements are the basis of life on Earth, whereby organisms are essentially evolved chemical substances that dynamically interact with each other and their environment. Determining species elemental quotas (their elementome) is a key indicator for their success across environments with different resource availabilities. Elementomes remain undescribed for functionally diverse dinoflagellates within the family Symbiodiniaceae that includes coral endosymbionts. We used dry combustion and ICP-MS to assess whether Symbiodiniaceae (ten isolates spanning five genera Breviolum, Cladocopium, Durusdinium, Effrenium, Symbiodinium ) maintained under long-term nutrient replete conditions have unique elementomes (six key macronutrients and nine micronutrients) that would reflect evolutionarily conserved preferential elemental acquisition. For three isolates we assessed how elevated temperature impacted their elementomes. Further, we tested whether Symbiodiniaceae conform to common stoichiometric hypotheses (e.g., the growth rate hypothesis) documented in other marine algae. This study considers whether Symbiodiniaceae isolates possess unique elementomes reflective of their natural ecologies, evolutionary histories, and resistance to environmental change.
Results
Symbiodiniaceae isolates maintained under long-term luxury uptake conditions, all exhibited highly divergent elementomes from one another, driven primarily by differential content of micronutrients. All N:P and C:P ratios were below the Redfield ratio values, whereas C:N was close to the Redfield value. Elevated temperature resulted in a more homogenised elementome across isolates. The Family-level elementome was (C 19.8 N 2.6 P 1.0 S 18.8 K 0.7 Ca 0.1 ) · 1000 (Fe 55.7 Mn 5.6 Sr 2.3 Zn 0.8 Ni 0.5 Se 0.3 Cu 0.2 Mo 0.1 V 0.04 ) mmol Phosphorous ⁻¹ versus (C 25.4 N 3.1 P 1.0 S 23.1 K 0.9 Ca 0.4 ) · 1000 (Fe 66.7 Mn 6.3 Sr 7.2 Zn 0.8 Ni 0.4 Se 0.2 Cu 0.2 Mo 0.2 V 0.05 ) mmol Phosphorous ⁻¹ at 27.4 ± 0.4 °C and 30.7 ± 0.01 °C, respectively. Symbiodiniaceae isolates tested here conformed to some, but not all, stoichiometric principles.
Conclusions
Elementomes for Symbiodiniaceae diverge from those reported for other marine algae, primarily via lower C:N:P and different micronutrient expressions. Long-term maintenance of Symbiodiniaceae isolates in culture under common nutrient replete conditions suggests isolates have evolutionary conserved preferential uptake for certain elements that allows these unique elementomes to be identified. Micronutrient content (normalised to phosphorous) commonly increased in the Symbiodiniaceae isolates in response to elevated temperature, potentially indicating a common elemental signature to warming.
... produce significant amounts of DMS for exchange to the atmosphere (Fischer, 2005;Fischer and Jones, 2012). Oxidation of atmospheric DMS produces a sulfate aerosol which can potentially form cloud condensation nuclei leading to low level cloud development over the open ocean (Charlson et al., 1987), and over coral reefs (Jones, 2015;Jones and Trevena, 2005;Modini et al., 2009;Swan et al., 2012Swan et al., , 2016Swan et al., , 2017Jackson et al., 2018Jackson et al., , 2020). An increasing amount of evidence now suggests that DMS emitted from coral reefs could keep SSTs cooler in the Great Barrier Reef, through reef produced atmospheric DMS and low level cloud formation over the reefs (Fischer and Jones, 2012;Leahy et al., 2013;Deschaseaux et al., 2014aDeschaseaux et al., , 2014bJones, 2015;Swan et al., 2016Swan et al., , 2017Cropp et al., 2018;Jackson et al., 2018Jackson et al., , 2020. ...
... Oxidation of atmospheric DMS produces a sulfate aerosol which can potentially form cloud condensation nuclei leading to low level cloud development over the open ocean (Charlson et al., 1987), and over coral reefs (Jones, 2015;Jones and Trevena, 2005;Modini et al., 2009;Swan et al., 2012Swan et al., , 2016Swan et al., , 2017Jackson et al., 2018Jackson et al., , 2020). An increasing amount of evidence now suggests that DMS emitted from coral reefs could keep SSTs cooler in the Great Barrier Reef, through reef produced atmospheric DMS and low level cloud formation over the reefs (Fischer and Jones, 2012;Leahy et al., 2013;Deschaseaux et al., 2014aDeschaseaux et al., , 2014bJones, 2015;Swan et al., 2016Swan et al., , 2017Cropp et al., 2018;Jackson et al., 2018Jackson et al., , 2020. The production of these natural sulfur substances from corals and coral reefs and their potential effect on the climate over the GBR and NE Australia has now been highlighted (Jones, 2015;Jones et al., 2018). ...
... An increasing amount of evidence now suggests that DMS emitted from coral reefs could keep SSTs cooler in the Great Barrier Reef, through reef produced atmospheric DMS and low level cloud formation over the reefs (Fischer and Jones, 2012;Leahy et al., 2013;Deschaseaux et al., 2014aDeschaseaux et al., , 2014bJones, 2015;Swan et al., 2016Swan et al., , 2017Cropp et al., 2018;Jackson et al., 2018Jackson et al., , 2020. The production of these natural sulfur substances from corals and coral reefs and their potential effect on the climate over the GBR and NE Australia has now been highlighted (Jones, 2015;Jones et al., 2018). ...
Short term stress experiments with dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and tripolyphosphate (TPP) have been carried out on the staghorn coral Acropora intermedia, collected from Heron Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef, at low and elevated seawater temperatures. Zooxanthellae, chlorophyll a, intracellular and tissue dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), and extracellular DMSP production were measured to assess the level of stress on A. intermedia at different winter and summer seasons from 2001 to 2003. Whilst no significant changes were measured in these stress indicators in 2001 and 2003, significant changes occurred in winter 2002, reflecting natural stresses on A. intermedia in the field, and stress from added DIP and TPP at high seawater temperatures. These stresses caused corals to bleach, whilst extracellular DMSP, intracellular and tissue DMSP concentrations increased, reflecting the antioxidant role of DMSP in the coral zooxanthellae and coral host to combat stress. These results have important implications for future research in the GBR.
... Chapter on Corals and gorgonians, this volume) [146]. Both the coral polyps and their symbionts produce organosulfur dimethylsulfonium propionate (DMSP) that is broken down to dimethyl sulfide (DMS) by a DMSP lyase [147]. DMS is utilized in petroleum refining and in the ozonolysis of alkenes. ...
The development, production, and testing of novel substances for medical use have become extremely costly, time consuming, and laborious. Therefore, researchers have turned to new sources found in organisms of all taxa and ecosystems. One wide and problematic field is antibiotics. Microorganisms, plants, and animals offer a plethora of chemicals that are of great interest in pharmacy and medicine.
