Extracellular Enzymes in Aquatic Environments: Exploring the Link Between Genomic Potential and Biogeochemical Consequences

Book excerpt: Microbial extracellular enzymes are fundamental to the cycling of elements in aquatic systems. The regulation of these enzymatic reactions in oceans, lakes and streams is under complex multiple control by environmental factors and the metabolic capacities of different taxa and communities. While the environmental control of enzyme-mediated processes has been investigated for over 100 years, in recent years tremendous progress in techniques to characterize the metabolic potential of microbial communities (“omics” techniques) has been made, such as high-throughput sequencing and new analytical algorithms. This book explores the controls, activities, and biogeochemical consequences of enzymes in aquatic environments. It brings together experimental studies and fieldwork conducted with natural microbial communities in marine and freshwater ecosystems as well as physiological, biochemical and molecular studies on microbial communities in these environments, or species isolated from them. Additionally, the book contributes to the ongoing debate on the impact of anthropogenic climate change and pollution on microbes, extracellular enzymes and substrate turnover.