Volatile Emissions From Diverse Estuarine Bacteria Share Core Compounds With a Subset of Strain-Specific, Low Abundance Compounds.
- 1Center for Volatile Interactions, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen E, Denmark.
- 2Marine Biological Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Helsingør, Denmark.
Abstract
Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are gases that influence atmospheric chemistry, nutrient cycling and species interactions, yet the contribution of heterotrophic marine bacteria to marine BVOC emissions remains poorly constrained. In addition, the extent to which the volatilome is linked to bacterial phylogeny is unknown. Here, we characterize the volatilome of 16 heterotrophic bacterial strains isolated from Baltic Sea surface water, spanning Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidota and Actinomycetes. Headspace BVOCs were quantified under standardized growth conditions using Proton Transfer Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS). A broadly overlapping bacterial volatilome was identified, with compound composition and proportional abundance similar across many strains, irrespective of phylogeny. Namely, most strains shared a set of core compounds with a subset of strain-specific, low abundance compounds. Acetone accounted for more than 50% of the emissions in most volatilomes. The remaining fraction of emissions was primarily comprised of other low-molecular-weight oxygenated compounds. Interestingly, two strains demonstrated strain-specific emission patterns, significantly diverging from the group in their emission rate and compound composition. Together, these findings suggest that marine heterotrophic bacteria may contribute a broadly conserved collection of BVOCs to the ocean-atmosphere interface, highlighting their role as a widespread source of trace gases in marine ecosystems.
Related
- Time-dependent fluxes and emission factors of volatile organic compounds from pig manure and solid/liquid digestates
- Spatial dynamics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in an urban environment and associated impacts on air quality
- Quantifying Multiple Reaction Pathways for Ambient Consumed Volatile Organic Compounds Derived from Emission Sources.
- Fungal growth on a hemp-flax-cotton biobased insulation materials and their potential to emit microbial volatile organic compounds (mVOCs)
- Volatile organic compounds and their role in secondary aerosol chemistry in a cold and dark urban environment
BibTeX
@article{galen2026volatile,
title = {{Volatile Emissions From Diverse Estuarine Bacteria Share Core Compounds With a Subset of Strain-Specific, Low Abundance Compounds.}},
author = {Eve Galen and Kajsa Roslund and Riikka Rinnan and Lasse Riemann},
journal = {Environmental microbiology reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1111/1758-2229.70439},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42893695},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Volatile Emissions From Diverse Estuarine Bacteria Share Core Compounds With a Subset of Strain-Specific, Low Abundance Compounds.
AU - Eve Galen
AU - Kajsa Roslund
AU - Riikka Rinnan
AU - Lasse Riemann
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Environmental microbiology reports
DO - 10.1111/1758-2229.70439
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42893695
AB - Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are gases that influence atmospheric chemistry, nutrient cycling and species interactions, yet the contribution of heterotrophic marine bacteria to marine BVOC emissions remains poorly constrained. In addition, the extent to which the volatilome is linked to bacterial phylogeny is unknown. Here, we characterize the volatilome of 16 heterotrophic bacterial strains isolated from Baltic Sea surface water, spanning Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidota and Actinomycetes. Headspace BVOCs were quantified under standardized growth conditions using Proton Transfer Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS). A broadly overlapping bacterial volatilome was identified, with compound composition and proportional abundance similar across many strains, irrespective of phylogeny. Namely, most strains shared a set of core compounds with a subset of strain-specific, low abundance compounds. Acetone accounted for more than 50% of the emissions in most volatilomes. The remaining fraction of emissions was primarily comprised of other low-molecular-weight oxygenated compounds. Interestingly, two strains demonstrated strain-specific emission patterns, significantly diverging from the group in their emission rate and compound composition. Together, these findings suggest that marine heterotrophic bacteria may contribute a broadly conserved collection of BVOCs to the ocean-atmosphere interface, highlighting their role as a widespread source of trace gases in marine ecosystems.
SN - 1758-2229
ER -