Cited by 78Marine and coastal ecosystemsMicrobial Community Ecology and PhysiologyRedox biology and oxidative stress

The microbial contribution to reactive oxygen species dynamics in marine ecosystems

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Zinser, Erik R.·2018·Environmental Microbiology Reports

Abstract

Summary: This review surveys the current state of knowledge of the concentrations, sources and sinks of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the ocean. Both abiotic and biotic factors contribute to ROS dynamics in seawater, and ROS can feature prominently in marine microbe–microbe interactions. The sun plays a key role in the production of ROS in the ocean, and consequently ROS concentrations are typically maximal in the sun‐exposed surface. However, microbes can also contribute significantly to extracellular ROS. Production of superoxide is widespread within the microbial community, and may benefit the producers as antimicrobial agents or perhaps more generally, as a means of nutrient scavenging. Decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is a community‐wide activity, though some members may play less significant roles in this process. The more reactive forms of ROS, singlet oxygen and the hydroxyl radical, may be less important as microbial stressors, as they tend to react with the chemicals in seawater before they can contact the cells. However, exceptions may exist for microbes attached to singlet oxygen‐generating sinking particulate matter. Extracellular ROS thus plays an important role in the ecology of marine microbes, the full extent to which we are only beginning to appreciate.

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  • The higher energy yield of organic matter degradation with oxygen, and the ability of aerobic microbes to utilise non-specific hydrolysing/depolymerising enzymes and reactive oxygen species, makes complex organic carbon compounds generally more labile in oxic marine environments.

    “Similarly, the higher energy yield associated with organic matter degradation with oxygen as well as the ability of aerobic microbes to utilise non-specic hydrolysing/depolymerising enzymes and reactive oxygen species makes complex organic carbon compounds generally more labile in oxic marine environments.127, [129][130][131][132][133]”

    From The fate of plastic in the ocean environment – a minireview (2021) · cites this paper as [133]

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Authors
Zinser, E. R.
Affiliations
University of Tennessee System (US)
Corresponding author
Zinser, Erik R.
Venue
Environmental Microbiology Reports
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2018-03-25
Volume
10
Issue
4
Pages
412-427
ISSN
1758-2229 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2790191565
Cited by
78
References
153
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4
FWCI
0.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Environmental Microbiology Reports (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (OCE‐0526072, OCE‐1030518, OCE‐1233964)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine and coastal ecosystems
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Redox biology and oxidative stress
Keywords
reactive oxygen species, marine microbial communities, superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radicals, microbial interactions, nutrient scavenging, marine ecosystems
MeSH terms
Bacteria, Hydrogen Peroxide, Seawater, Superoxides, Reactive Oxygen Species, Hydroxyl Radical, Ecosystem, Singlet Oxygen, Microbial Consortia

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