Journal
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
Volume 289, Issue -, Pages 14-32Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2020.08.002
Keywords
Benthic foraminifera; P-Cycling; Phosphorites; Phosphate; Oxygen Minimum Zone; Peru
Categories
Funding
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) [SFB 754]
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Phosphorus is essential for all living organisms, being a component of DNA and RNA and the energy carrier ATP. Phosphogenesis is a main sink of reactive phosphorus in the oceans. The present study reports the presence of intracellular dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) in benthic foraminifera from the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). The mean intracellular DIP concentration was 28 +/- 3 mM; two to three orders-of-magnitude higher than in the ambient pore waters. The biological implications of the high intracellular phosphate enrichment may be related to the synthesis of polyphosphates or phospholipids for cell-membranes. The comparative genomics analysis of multiple species of foraminifera from different environments reveals that foraminifers encode the genes required for both phospholipid and polyphosphate metabolism. Rapid phosphogenesis and phosphorite formation associated with foraminiferal tests is hypothesized due to the preconcentration of intracellular phosphate in these organisms. The results indicate that foraminifera may play a key and previously overlooked role in the global phosphorus cycle. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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