• DOI:10.1126/science.1188418
• Corpus ID: 12511973

Chemoattraction to Dimethylsulfoniopropionate Throughout the Marine Microbial Food Web

@article{Seymour2010ChemoattractionTD,
  title={Chemoattraction to Dimethylsulfoniopropionate Throughout the Marine Microbial Food Web},
  author={Justin R. Seymour and Rafel Sim{\'o} and Tanvir Ahmed and Roman Stocker},
  journal={Science},
  year={2010},
  volume={329},
  pages={342 - 345}
}

• J. Seymour, R. Simó, +1 author R. Stocker
• Published 16 July 2010
• Environmental Science
• Science

Sulfur Signal Dinner Phytoplankton produces large amounts of the compound dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), which can be transformed into the gas dimethylsulfide and emitted into the atmosphere in sufficient quantities to affect cloud formation. The functional role of DMSP is somewhat unclear, but it is degraded by marine bacteria as a source of reduced carbon and sulfur. It also acts as a foraging cue for a variety of aquatic animals ranging from copepods to marine mammals. Now, Seymour et al. (p. 342) have developed a microfluidic device to observe the behavior of motile microorganisms in response to pulses of DMSP. Contrary to accepted thought, these compounds appear primarily to play a defensive role—for most motile organisms, they are strongly attractive and act as an important infochemical throughout the marine food web. A microfluidics device reveals a common response of bacterial plankton to sulfur compounds emitted by marine algae. Phytoplankton-produced dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) provides underwater and atmospheric foraging cues for several species of marine invertebrates, fish, birds, and mammals. However, its role in the chemical ecology of marine planktonic microbes is largely unknown, and there is evidence for contradictory functions. By using microfluidics and image analysis of swimming behavior, we observed attraction toward microscale pulses of DMSP and related compounds among several motile strains of phytoplankton, heterotrophic bacteria, and bacterivore and herbivore microzooplankton. Because microbial DMSP cycling is the main natural source of cloud-forming sulfur aerosols, our results highlight how adaptations to microscale chemical seascapes shape planktonic food webs, while potentially influencing climate at the global scale.