Major role of planktonic phosphate reduction in the marine phosphorus redox cycle

Phosphorus in the +5 oxidation state (i.e., phosphate) is the most abundant form of phosphorus in the global ocean. An enigmatic pool of dissolved phosphonate molecules, with phosphorus in the +3 oxidation state, is also ubiquitous; however, cycling of phosphorus between oxidation states has remained poorly constrained. Using simple incubation and chromatography approaches, we measured the rate of the chemical reduction of phosphate to P(III) compounds in the western tropical North Atlantic Ocean. Colonial nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria in surface waters played a critical role in phosphate reduction, but other classes of plankton, including potentially deep-water archaea, were also involved. These data are consistent with marine geochemical evidence and microbial genomic information, which together suggest the existence of a vast oceanic phosphorus redox cycle.