Understanding carbon regulation in aquatic systems - Bacteriophages as a model [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

The bacteria and their phages are the most abundant constituents of the aquatic environment, and so represent an ideal model for studying carbon regulation in an aquatic system. The microbe-mediated interconversion of bioavailable organic carbon (OC) into dissolved organic carbon (DOC) by the microbial carbon pump (MCP) has been suggested to have the potential to revolutionize our view of carbon sequestration. It is estimated that DOC is the largest pool of organic matter in the ocean and, though a major component of the global carbon cycle, its source is not yet well understood. A key element of the carbon cycle is the microbial conversion of DOC into inedible forms. The primary aim of this study is to understand the phage conversion from organic to inorganic carbon during phage-host interactions. Time studies of phage-host interactions under controlled conditions reveal their impact on the total carbon content of the samples and their interconversion of organic and inorganic carbon compared to control samples. A total organic carbon (TOC) analysis showed an increase in inorganic carbon content by 15-25 percent in samples with bacteria and phage compared to samples with bacteria alone. Compared to control samples, the increase in inorganic carbon content was 60-70-fold in samples with bacteria and phage, and 50-55-fold for samples with bacteria alone. This study indicates the potential impact of phages in regulating the carbon cycle of aquatic systems. Waman Paunikar ( ) Corresponding author: [email protected] Sanmukh S, Khairnar K, Paunikar W and Lokhande S. How to cite this article: Understanding carbon regulation in aquatic systems 2015, :138 (doi: ) Bacteriophages as a model [version 1; referees: 2 approved] F1000Research 4 10.12688/f1000research.6031.1 © 2015 Sanmukh S . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the , Copyright: et al Creative Commons Attribution Licence which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Data associated with the article are available under the terms of the (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication). Creative Commons Zero "No rights reserved" data waiver The work was carried out as an in-house activity and was supported by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Grant information: Government of India, New Delhi. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: No conflicts of interest were declared. 01 Jun 2015, :138 (doi: ) First published: 4 10.12688/f1000research.6031.1 1 1 1