Novel connections between B-vitamins and microbial communities along biogeochemical gradients in a large temperate estuary

Abstract

As B-vitamins are organic cofactors required by prokaryotic and eukaryotic planktonic cells, their availability impacts aquatic microbial communities and associated biogeochemistry. Contrary to inorganic nutrients, measurements of B-vitamins from brackish systems are scarce and relationships between B-vitamins and plankton composition in estuaries are unclear, limiting our understanding of estuary biology in general as well as how B-vitamins are distributed and dispersed in marine systems. Here, we quantify multiple B-vitamins and their vitamers in particulate and dissolved phases, and characterize microbial community composition, across fresh to polyhaline zones of the Neuse River Estuary (NRE), North Carolina, USA. We uncover elevated concentrations of B-vitamins within the mid-estuary, Chlorophyll a maximum along with a unique suite of dissolved B-vitamin associated with sporadic surges in pico- and microplankton populations. The dynamics of both dissolved and particulate B-vitamin concentrations in space and time were striking - from subpicomolar to high picomolar levels observed and strong short-term (weeks) variability. We find notable autochtonous B-vitamin production in the estuary, but we expect the ability of the system to deliver these micronutrients to the ocean will depend on flushing as well as changes in microbial community. We identify vitamin B1, B12, psB12 (pseudocobalamin), and B3 as key explanatory variables for change in prokaryotic and eukaryotic NRE plankton, providing new evidence of B-vitamin influence upon estuarine plankton community composition. Our work reveals new complexities in B-vitamin production and consumption within zones of estuaries while underscoring these micronutrients as key drivers of microbial plankton composition.