Brown macroalgae secrete complex carbohydrate polymers, their extracellular matrix, as protection against microbial degradation, which can contribute to marine carbon sequestration, though mechanisms, extent, and timescales remain unknown.
Abstract
Macroalgae secrete complex carbohydrate polymers, their extracellular matrix, as protection against microbial degradation. By resisting breakdown, these carbohydrates can contribute to marine carbon sequestration, though mechanisms, extent, and timescales remain unknown. Using ship-based sampling and experiments, we found that brown macroalgae release 1.7-4.2% of carbon fixation as fucoidan, equivalent to 0.32-0.88 mg fucoidan per gram of dry seaweed tissue per day. A Bayesian model trained on our empirical data, coupled with Monte Carlo simulations suggests an annual global release of 13-37 megatons fucoidan carbon. Moreover, degradation resistance combined with surface-activity enabled fucoidan to act as glue that cross-linked allochthonous organic carbon including microbes and proteins into marine snow. Notably, substantial fucoidan exudation was universally conserved across all tested species and regions. Thus, any brown macroalgal species can be used e.g. via aquafarming to enhance the formation of marine snow.
It is shown that fucoidans are degraded through synergistic interactions between specialized bacteria with complementary metabolic functions, providing a mechanistic framework for understanding carbon cycling in the ocean and for engineering synthetic microbial consortia to degrade recalcitrant polysaccharides.
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