Carbon Fixation, Transformation and Sequestration of Marine Microbes and the Associated Regulatory Mechanisms in a Changing Ocean

Dear Colleagues,

Marine microbes, as major primary producers in the marine environment, function as biological pumps and, thus, have a central place in the global carbon cycle, regulating the climate by sequestrating atmospheric CO₂ into the ocean. On one hand, these organisms directly fix inorganic carbon into organic forms through photosynthesis, forming the basis of the marine food web and regulating life at higher trophic levels. On the other hand, the fixed carbon is transformed by various microbial processes, affecting the amount of carbon that is eventually sequestrated into the deep ocean. In general, the dominance of large phytoplankton groups controls the net export production out of the euphotic zone, due to the higher sinking rates caused by gravity and the packing effects of larger grazers forming them into fecal pellets. Alternatively, the small phytoplankton cells mainly contribute to the carbon export through aggregation and packaging effects. The sinking velocities are not only affected by the physiological states of the phytoplankton cells (e.g., bio-molecular compositions) but also by microbial interactions (e.g., microbial loop), which may have large effects on the formation of marine aggregates and the consequent carbon export. However, our current knowledge of the carbon sequestration capacity of different phytoplankton taxonomic groups and the associated environmental and microbial regulatory mechanisms are still limited, which is essential for the precise estimation of the carbon sequestration potential of the ocean to achieve “carbon neutrality”.

This Special Issue aims to report recent advances in understanding the role marine microbes play in the carbon fixation, transformation, and sequestration in the oceanic environment, the effects of global change on these processes, and the associated regulatory mechanisms using advanced/interdisciplinary techniques. Authors are invited to submit both original research articles and reviews related to these research topics.

Dr. Yuanyuan Feng
Dr. Qiang Hao
Guest Editors

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• marine microbes
• phytoplankton
• carbon sequestration
• carbon transformation
• carbon fixation
• marine carbon cycle
• global change