Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.

Sec. Aquatic Microbiology

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1625011

Global mapping and environmental drivers of epipelagic bacterial communities in the open oceans

Provisionally accepted
Luca  VitanzaLuca Vitanza1Anna  Maria CocciaAnna Maria Coccia1Alessia  PelusoAlessia Peluso1David  BrandtnerDavid Brandtner2ANNA  MURATOREANNA MURATORE1Fulvio  FERRARAFulvio FERRARA1Luca  LucentiniLuca Lucentini1Andrea  PiccioliAndrea Piccioli3Giuseppina  La RosaGiuseppina La Rosa1Rossella  BriancescoRossella Briancesco1*
  • 1National Center for Water Safety, National Institute of Health (ISS), Rome, Italy
  • 2Departments of Infectious Disease, National Institute of Health (ISS), Rome, Italy
  • 3Office of the Director General, National Institute of Health (ISS), Rome, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Introduction This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the microbial communities in marine environments across different geographical regions, including the Mediterranean Sea (Northwest and Southwest), the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. The goal of this research is to examine the diversity and composition of microbial life in these ecosystems and investigate the impact of environmental factors on microbial communities. Materials and Methods High-throughput NGS sequencing techniques of the V3-V4 variable region of the 16S rRNA gene was employed to identify bacterial composition of the epipelagic communities in 45 water samples, using the MiSeq rRNA amplicon sequencing protocol (Illumina). Shannon index was used to described population diversity in samples. Results We identified significant differences in the bacterial composition of these ecosystems, highlighting the dominance of Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and specific genera such as SAR11, Alteromonas, and Synechococcus. Variations in microbial communities were strongly influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and salinity. Notably, the Mediterranean exhibited the highest microbial diversity, while the Atlantic displayed the lowest. Discussion Our results reveal the complex interplay between microbial life and environmental conditions, emphasizing the need for long-term monitoring of these communities. These baseline data are essential for understanding the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic pollution on marine ecosystems. By improving our understanding of microbial biodiversity and its connection to ecological and human health, this study contributes to the broader goal of planetary health, offering a foundation for future efforts to mitigate the effects of environmental alterations.

Keywords: bacterial diversity, environmental factors, Marine metagenomics, microbial ecology, seawater Words: n. 5646 Figures: n. 8

Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Vitanza, Coccia, Peluso, Brandtner, MURATORE, FERRARA, Lucentini, Piccioli, La Rosa and Briancesco. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Rossella Briancesco, National Center for Water Safety, National Institute of Health (ISS), Rome, Italy

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.