Bacterial interactions shape the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter

Bacterial interactions shape the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Bacterial interactions shape the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter Jessika Fuessel, Samuel Miller, Carlotta Hecker, Florian Trigodet, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7321332/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Heterotrophic marine microbes drive long-term carbon storage in the oceans by partitioning phytoplankton-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) into fractions of varying persistence. However, the role of microbial interactions in molecular transformations that channel labile to persistent DOM remains poorly resolved. Here, we investigated the fate of DOM within pure cultures and co-cultures through a full-factorial experimental design with four marine microorganisms that grew on a single carbon source. In pure cultures, we observed a correlation between DOM molecular diversity and metabolic potential of each strain. Yet, organisms grown together revealed DOM molecular signatures containing novel molecular formulas unique to each co-culture, such that the whole differed from the sum of its parts. Co-cultures produced the majority of molecular formulas of which only a small fraction (<1%) corresponded to known metabolites predicted by metabolic network analyses of the four bacterial isolates. These findings suggest that microbial interactions mediated by known and unknown compounds are a major driver of the diversity, composition, and persistence of marine DOM. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental chemistry/Geochemistry Biological sciences/Microbiology/Environmental microbiology/Water microbiology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SITable1.xlsx Table 1 SITable2.xlsx Table 2 SITable3.xlsx Table 3 SITable4.xlsx Table 4 SupplementaryInformation.pdf Supplementary Information for Bacterial interactions shape the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7321332","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":497326109,"identity":"c4747407-0437-49f3-918f-e29dc707bb4c","order_by":0,"name":"Jessika Fuessel","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYGhg9gFjvzASApIUOMFsYZYBYzWwJICw9RFkG18BiAKMJamGckMDbzVNTZ8zPzfH51o8aCh4H98NEN+K0AaTlzOHFmM+8265xjQIfxpKXdIKCF/TFv24EEg8O824xz2IBaJHjMCGlhbOb9V2dvf5jnmXHOP6K1NDAzbmDmYX6c20aMlp6HjY1zjh1OnHGYzYw5t0+Ch42QXwzbkw82vKkBhlh78+PPOd/q5PjZDx/Dr6UBFP8QwCYBJvEpBwF5JDbzB0KqR8EoGAWjYGQCAGpnQ0dC44YHAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4210-2318","institution":"University of Oldenburg","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jessika","middleName":"","lastName":"Fuessel","suffix":""},{"id":497326110,"identity":"c4a301dc-bb40-4592-b38b-5f478ad01789","order_by":1,"name":"Samuel Miller","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Josephine Bay Paul Center, Marine Biological Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Samuel","middleName":"","lastName":"Miller","suffix":""},{"id":497326111,"identity":"fdc50845-2c45-42bf-b336-363acb4f6c40","order_by":2,"name":"Carlotta Hecker","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology Hans Knöll Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carlotta","middleName":"","lastName":"Hecker","suffix":""},{"id":497326112,"identity":"36bf4508-3d83-46ab-ac1f-a49ff87a8e1e","order_by":3,"name":"Florian Trigodet","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Florian","middleName":"","lastName":"Trigodet","suffix":""},{"id":497326113,"identity":"626ff96d-b815-4828-b57b-963d03ab4418","order_by":4,"name":"Leon Dlugosch","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leon","middleName":"","lastName":"Dlugosch","suffix":""},{"id":497326114,"identity":"b55338b1-3886-4bc4-8996-60c772e9e955","order_by":5,"name":"Thorsten Brinkhoff","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3917-6882","institution":"University of Oldenburg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thorsten","middleName":"","lastName":"Brinkhoff","suffix":""},{"id":497326115,"identity":"00e9e789-ba4a-4e4a-981a-e2b511f538b3","order_by":6,"name":"Thorsten Dittmar","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3462-0107","institution":"University of Oldenburg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Thorsten","middleName":"","lastName":"Dittmar","suffix":""},{"id":497326116,"identity":"9cbcb8a3-47af-4be3-b281-2602c15d92bc","order_by":7,"name":"A. Murat Eren","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"A.","middleName":"Murat","lastName":"Eren","suffix":""},{"id":497326117,"identity":"44921b65-dcc4-483e-a6ce-1c27f7267153","order_by":8,"name":"Sinikka Lennartz","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7040-149X","institution":"University of Oldenburg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sinikka","middleName":"","lastName":"Lennartz","suffix":""},{"id":497326118,"identity":"bb9fa99f-7814-4094-ace3-c2827c9a0d7b","order_by":9,"name":"Carina Bunse","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Gothenburg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carina","middleName":"","lastName":"Bunse","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-07 18:25:31","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7321332/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7321332/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":88977699,"identity":"a7bb7f14-1502-43bb-90f5-834d3b475e0c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-13 10:48:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3250900,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Article.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7321332/v1_covered_503f05f5-a4a3-4ff3-a40b-c5211dcf8654.pdf"},{"id":88614737,"identity":"055a7cb8-6872-4b9e-bbca-9f3bde5255e2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-08 10:26:18","extension":"xlsx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5889688,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Table 1","description":"","filename":"SITable1.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7321332/v1/ca0b0fe15165811e361a5c18.xlsx"},{"id":88614738,"identity":"adb09df2-11dd-4ccb-84fe-f0a23f901e46","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-08 10:26:18","extension":"xlsx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":6749795,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Table 2","description":"","filename":"SITable2.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7321332/v1/8408f38a19f9d58918454299.xlsx"},{"id":88614736,"identity":"fe58334d-c38b-4004-8600-c4eba23be0fd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-08 10:26:18","extension":"xlsx","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":102485,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Table 3","description":"","filename":"SITable3.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7321332/v1/de6264a7dc453a28e0698826.xlsx"},{"id":88614735,"identity":"66b4bbdb-f411-424f-92b2-37512df761ca","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-08 10:26:18","extension":"xlsx","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":141514,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Table 4","description":"","filename":"SITable4.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7321332/v1/24d3688b280f253eef6018ce.xlsx"},{"id":88614740,"identity":"3424d217-f326-4b6a-880f-8d88ff6ab676","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-08 10:26:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":3036962,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Information for Bacterial interactions shape the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryInformation.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7321332/v1/c43b3dc705a0712b07737b2f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Bacterial interactions shape the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7321332/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7321332/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Heterotrophic marine microbes drive long-term carbon storage in the oceans by partitioning phytoplankton-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) into fractions of varying persistence. However, the role of microbial interactions in molecular transformations that channel labile to persistent DOM remains poorly resolved. Here, we investigated the fate of DOM within pure cultures and co-cultures through a full-factorial experimental design with four marine microorganisms that grew on a single carbon source. In pure cultures, we observed a correlation between DOM molecular diversity and metabolic potential of each strain. Yet, organisms grown together revealed DOM molecular signatures containing novel molecular formulas unique to each co-culture, such that the whole differed from the sum of its parts. Co-cultures produced the majority of molecular formulas of which only a small fraction (\u003c1%) corresponded to known metabolites predicted by metabolic network analyses of the four bacterial isolates. These findings suggest that microbial interactions mediated by known and unknown compounds are a major driver of the diversity, composition, and persistence of marine DOM.","manuscriptTitle":"Bacterial interactions shape the molecular composition of dissolved organic matter","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-08 10:26:14","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7321332/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"270e0063-01fa-4436-b16f-ebe1f61b92f4","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":52831855,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental chemistry/Geochemistry"},{"id":52831856,"name":"Biological sciences/Microbiology/Environmental microbiology/Water microbiology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-08-13T10:40:33+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-08 10:26:14","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7321332","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7321332","identity":"rs-7321332","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}