A Latitudinal Metabolome of the Atlantic Ocean

Microbial consortia function via the exchange and transformation of small organic molecules or metabolites. These metabolites make up a pool of rapidly cycling organic matter in the ocean that is challenging to characterize due to its low concentrations. We seek to determine the distribution of these molecules and the factors that shape their abundance and flux. Through measurements of the abundance of a core set of metabolites, including nucleic acids, amino acids, sugars, vitamins, and signaling molecules, we gain a real-time snapshot of microbial activity. We used a targeted metabolomics technique to profile metabolite abundance in particulate and dissolved organic matter extracts collected from a 14,000 km transect running from 38˚S to 55˚N in the Western Atlantic Ocean. This extensive dataset is the first of its kind in the Atlantic Ocean and allows us to explore connections among metabolites as well as latitudinal trends in metabolite abundance. We found changes in the intracellular abundance of certain metabolites between low and high nutrient regions and a wide distribution of certain dissolved vitamins in the surface ocean. These measurements give us baseline data on the distribution of these metabolites and allow us to extend our understanding of microbial community activity in different regions of the ocean.