The microbial carbon pump and climate change

Nianzhi Jiao; Tingwei Luo; Quanrui Chen; Zhao Zhao; Xilin Xiao; Jihua Liu; Zhimin Jian; Shucheng Xie; Helmuth Thomas; Gerhard J Herndl; Ronald Benner; Micheal Gonsior; Feng Chen; Wei-Jun Cai; Carol Robinson

doi:10.1038/s41579-024-01018-0

The microbial carbon pump and climate change

Nat Rev Microbiol. 2024 Mar 15. doi: 10.1038/s41579-024-01018-0. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nianzhi Jiao^{1

2}, Tingwei Luo^{3

4}, Quanrui Chen^{3

4}, Zhao Zhao^{3

4}, Xilin Xiao^{3

4}, Jihua Liu^{4

5}, Zhimin Jian⁶, Shucheng Xie⁷, Helmuth Thomas^{8

9}, Gerhard J Herndl¹⁰, Ronald Benner¹¹, Micheal Gonsior^{4

12}, Feng Chen^{4

13}, Wei-Jun Cai¹⁴, Carol Robinson^{15

16}

Affiliations

¹ Innovation Research Center for Carbon Neutralization, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. jiao@xmu.edu.cn.
² UN Global ONCE joint focal points at Shandong University, University of East Anglia, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. jiao@xmu.edu.cn.
³ Innovation Research Center for Carbon Neutralization, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
⁴ UN Global ONCE joint focal points at Shandong University, University of East Anglia, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
⁵ Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China.
⁸ Institute of Carbon Cycles, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Geesthacht, Germany.
⁹ Institut für Chemie und Biologie des Meeres (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
¹¹ Department of Biological Sciences, School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
¹² Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, MD, USA.
¹³ Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹⁴ School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
¹⁵ UN Global ONCE joint focal points at Shandong University, University of East Anglia, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. carol.robinson@uea.ac.uk.
¹⁶ Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS), School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. carol.robinson@uea.ac.uk.

PMID: 38491185
DOI: 10.1038/s41579-024-01018-0

Abstract

The ocean has been a regulator of climate change throughout the history of Earth. One key mechanism is the mediation of the carbon reservoir by refractory dissolved organic carbon (RDOC), which can either be stored in the water column for centuries or released back into the atmosphere as CO₂ depending on the conditions. The RDOC is produced through a myriad of microbial metabolic and ecological processes known as the microbial carbon pump (MCP). Here, we review recent research advances in processes related to the MCP, including the distribution patterns and molecular composition of RDOC, links between the complexity of RDOC compounds and microbial diversity, MCP-driven carbon cycles across time and space, and responses of the MCP to a changing climate. We identify knowledge gaps and future research directions in the role of the MCP, particularly as a key component in integrated approaches combining the mechanisms of the biological and abiotic carbon pumps for ocean negative carbon emissions.

Publication types

Review