Organic matter availability drives the spatial variation in the community composition and activity of Antarctic...

Carbon cycling by Antarctic microbial plankton is poorly understood but it plays a major role in CO₂ sequestration in the Southern Ocean. We investigated the summer bacterioplankton community in the largely understudied Weddell Sea, applying Illumina amplicon sequencing, measurements of bacterial production and chemical analyses of organic matter. The results revealed that the patchy distribution of productive coastal polynyas and less productive, mostly ice-covered sites was the major driver of the spatial changes in the taxonomic composition and activity of bacterioplankton. Gradients in organic matter availability induced by phytoplankton blooms were reflected in the concentrations and composition of dissolved carbohydrates and proteins. Bacterial production at bloom stations was, on average, 2.7 times higher than at less productive sites. Abundant bloom-responsive lineages were predominately affiliated with ubiquitous marine taxa, including Polaribacter, Yoonia-Loktanella, Sulfitobacter, the SAR92 clade, and Ulvibacter, suggesting a widespread genetic potential for adaptation to sub-zero seawater temperatures. A co-occurrence network analysis showed that dominant taxa at stations with low phytoplankton productivity were highly connected, indicating beneficial interactions. Overall, our study demonstrates that heterotrophic bacterial communities along Weddell Sea ice shelves were primarily constrained by the availability of labile organic matter rather than low seawater temperature.