Degradation of lipids in seasonal hypoxic seawater under different oxygen saturation

The hypoxic phenomena of seawater have been found in the Changjiang esturay and its adjacent area for several decades. To study organic matter degradation in seasonal hypoxic seawater, series of stimulated incubation experiments with Skeletonema costatum in seawater under different oxygen saturations were conducted. By tracking variations of lipids originated from the alga, time-dependent concentrations of neutral lipids (hexadecanol, otctadecanol, cholesterol, brassicasterol and phytol) and fatty acids (12:0, 14:0, 16:0, 16:1, 18:0, 18:1(9), 20:5 and 22:6) were obtained during three month of incubation. The results indicate that residence time, oxygen saturation, bacterial community and the structure of lipids were key factors controlling preservation and degradation of lipids in seawater. The degradation rate constants calculated from multi-G model showed that under same oxygen saturation, algal fatty acid degraded faster than neutral lipids, and unsaturated fatty acids degraded faster than saturated fatty acids. Our new discovery showed that degradation rate constant had linear positive correlation with oxygen saturation of seawater, indicating the critical role of oxygen on degradation of algal lipids in hypoxic seawater. The results of this study will be helpful to understand organic carbon cycling in seawater and marine environment more deeply. Future field experiments and investigation should be conducted tracking control factors, especially the role of oxygen saturation on organic matter degradation in natural environment.