UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SABAH

HS40 MARINE SCIENCE

SL10203 : INTRODUCTION TO CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
ASSIGNMENT : THE ROLES OF MICROBES IN NUTRIENT
REGENERATION PROCESS
NAME : SHARIFAH AZIAH JASMINE BTE SHARIF JAKARIA
LECTURER : DR SUJJAT AL-AZAD
DUE DATE : 27 MAY 2015

Introduction
Microbes are small organisms which are single-celled,and small that they are not
visible to be seen with naked eyes. They can only be visible when they are in clumps or
colonies. They can be primary producers,secondary consumers,and also decomposers.
Microbes usually have similar size ranging from 0.02 to 0.2 m for femtoplancton
including most viruses and some bacteria, from 0.2 to 2 m for picoplankton including
most bacteria and archaea and some protists and from 2 to 20 m for nanoplankton
including protists. Microbes are usually studied using electron microscopy,epifluorescnece
or optical microscopy and flow cytometry. Microbes are also very abundant and have very
high diversity physiologically and phylogenetically. A nutrient element is functionally
involved in the processes of living organisms. Traditionally, in oceanography the term has
been applied almost exclusively to nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon although it is now
known that minor elements, such as iron, play an important role, too. The primary
processes influencing nutrient concentrations in the sea are the geophysical and
geochemical processes which not only control the addition of these elements to seawater
but also are responsible for their dispersion and removal.

Microbes and Nutrient Regeneration

Nutrient regeneration is a process whereby those nutrients that are bound in organismic
biomass are retransformed into their inorganic form. The primary biological removal of
inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon from seawater is by phytoplankton. On the
shelves, littoral and benthic algae remove these elements from seawater, but the total
amounts involved are relatively small. The primary and other consumers of the marine
food web regenerate these elements to soluble form. Bacteria, protozoa and autolysis are
involved in these regeneration processes. Microbes
are the primary mediators of the cycling of nitrogen between compounds, and through
their metabolisms the nitrogen and carbon cycles are inextricably linked. Consequently,
CO2 enrichment or acidification-related shifts in both cell physiology and biological
community structure could have major impacts on ocean biogeochemical cycles. New
nitrogen enters the ocean through the fixation of atmospheric dinitrogen (N2) by marine
N2 fixers,also known as diazotrophs. Nitrogen losses from the ocean are through
organisms that reduce oxidized N (primarily NO3) to N2 through classical denitrification,
an anaerobic process Further losses of fixed N from the ocean occur through anaerobic
ammonium (NH4+) oxidation via so-called anammox. Once input into the ocean,
nitrogen is cycled through microbial and food web interactions. Nitrogen taken up into
particulate material and microbial biomass is released and regenerated.

The regeneration and release of the nitrogen make organically bound nitrogen newly
available. This is a key process, since inputs of new nitrogen are not sufficient to support
the requirements of primary production. Regeneration in the water column supported by

the flux of Sodium Hydroxide (NH 4+) and urea, the products of animal and bacterial
metabolism. Most organisms in the water column contribute to the regeneration of
nitrogen. Smaller organisms such as protozoans release more nutrients than larger
species (Glibert, 1982). However, bacteria do not always release more NH4+ than the
larger zooplankton. Nitrogen regeneration rate, E, is usually related to metabolic
properties of the organisms. Nitrogen regeneration rate, E, is related to metabolic
properties of the organisms, including the C/N ratios of the consumer biomass (b) and the
food (org. matter)(s), and the gross growth efficiency (GGE) of consumer:
E = C x [ (1:C/Ns)-(GCE:C/Nb)]
Where C is carbon consumption.
Example:
If bacteria has C/Nb= 4, GGE= 50%
If phytoplankton has C/Ns = 8 1:C/Ns=1:8=0.5/4 and GCE:C/Nb=0.5/4
then, E= 0!
Therefore when C/Ns < 8, E > 0 and bacteria regenerates NH4+.
When C/Ns > 8, the bacteria do not release ammonia but they need to consume
ammonia in order to utilize all the carbon in the food.
Flagellates and even larger animals may be important generators of nitrogen. Gelatinous
zooplankton also regenerate nitrogen. Nitrogen is regenerated by heterotrophs mainly as
NH4+, the form of nitrogen which is preferentially taken up by phytoplankton.
Regeneration of nitrogen
and phosphorus by zooplankton increases as more food is
available.

Phosphorus in sea water is present as dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP),dissolved

organic phosphorus (DOP) and as particulate phosphorus (PP) including living & dead
organisms/POP and inorganic particles. For DIP, bacteria excretes nutrients which is also
known as autolysis. For DOP there are processes of microbial hydrolysis of esters and
abiotic hydrolysis and there are decay of PP and regeneration by animals. Regeneration of
phosphate is temperature dependent. Regeneration process is so active in the coastal
waters and only small portion of P is lost permanently to the sediment by burial. Bacteria
in aquatic ecosystems were considered to be important only in phosphorus regeneration
or mineralization of the organic to the inorganic form followed by release to the
environment. Since the development of the microbial food web paradigm shows the roles
of aquatic bacteria in phosphorus cycling in aquatic food webs. They are also effective
competitors with phytoplankton for inorganic Phosphorus. Heterotrophic bacteria are now
known to be responsible about 60% of the inorganic phosphate uptake in various aquatic
ecosystems. Some of the uptake of inorganic phosphate is due to cyanobacteria.
Heterotrophic bacteria are important in the regeneration of phosphate. They are usually
net mineralisers for inorganic phosphorus. However,in phosphorus limited
systems,bacteria are probably not net mineralisers at all but rather a sink of inorganic
phosphorus. Bacteria is also a major phosphorus-rich sources of particles for grazers
which is a very important link in the regeneration process.

Phosphorus Oceanic Budget

For nutrient silica regeneration,colonizing bacteria expressed extremely high levels of
ectoprotease activity compared to bulk phase efficiently hydrolyzing the

organic matrix protecting diatoms from dissolution. acteria are known to possess a suite
of other ectohydrolytic enzymes for example glucosidase, lipase, and chitinase capable of
hydrolyzing different classes of macromolecules. The expression of specific hydrolytic
enzymes by colonizing bacteria may determine whether silicon regen- eration is slow or
rapid in nature. Moreover, species identity of bacterial colonizers likely controls Si
regeneration by influencing colonization patterns and the effectiveness of ectoenzymes
that hydrolyze the protective organic matrix. Also,certain bacterial phylotypes may
possess the ability to preferentially respond to diatoms and cause extensive silica cycling.
Bacterial species identity strongly controlled silicon re- generation by influencing the
colonization potential and ec- tohydrolytic profiles of bacteria as well as the formation of
phytodetrital aggregates. The fact that bacteria can both enhance and deter silicon
regeneration shows how variability in species composition and activity can significantly
dictate the extent of silica cycling within the upper 200 m of depth. Clearly, the
composition of colonizing bacterial populations and their attendant enzyme activities will
determine whether in situ silicon regeneration rates are fast or slow in nature.
Regeneration rates will also be modulated by other ecosystem parameters, particularly
those affecting bacterial activity on diatoms.
REFERENCE
1. Bidle KD, Azam F (2001) Bacterial control of silicon regeneration from diatom detritus:
Significance of bacterial ectohydrolases and species identity. Limnol Oceanogr 46:
16061623.
2. Overbeck, J. (1974) Microbiology and chemistry. Mitt. int. Ver. Limnol. 20: pp. 198-228
3. Stckli, A. (1985) The role of bacteria and algae in phosphorus regeneration using
linked continuous cultures. Verh. int. Ver. Limnol. 22: pp. 2773-2779