Primary vitamin B12 limitation and widespread stress in Antarctic phytoplankton
How to prepare an accurate paper press kit? Illustrated guide
R. H. Lampe, D. Rao, R. M. Kell, R. J. Chmiel, N. L. Schanke, S. Y. Kim et al. · DOI: 10.64898/2026.11.05.764676 · Summary page
Why cover this story this week?
Antarctic plankton need more than iron
Iron is usually cast as the principal brake on phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean. A nutrient-enrichment experiment in the Amundsen Sea points to a different shortage: the community studied, comprising diatoms and prasinophytes, was limited primarily by vitamin B12 and only secondarily by iron. Protein biomarkers sampled across a broader Southern Ocean area also indicated widespread B12 stress in diatoms and Phaeocystis. Competition for the vitamin, combined with limited capacity to manufacture it, could help explain the bottleneck.
The finding complicates expectations about how Antarctic ecosystems will respond to warming. Melting ice shelves can increase coastal iron supplies, but relieving an iron shortage need not remove the main constraint on growth. The authors suggest that a shift toward B12 limitation could favor mixotrophic flagellates with lower vitamin requirements, changing which organisms flourish and how the community functions. The experiment establishes a local limitation; the wider biomarker evidence indicates stress rather than directly demonstrating growth limitation everywhere.
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