Physiological and Optical traits and Nutrients shape the dominance of pelagic Sargassum variants in the Atlantic

Clicks: 23
ID: 323113
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Steady

Ranked #235 of 415 articles by views in Journal of experimental botany

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 415 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Pelagic Sargassum forms extensive floating populations, which expand across the tropical North Atlantic without spatial restrictions. Its ecological drivers and the dominance of three genetic variants remain poorly understood. Here, we characterized their optical (absorptance and specific absorption coefficient) and photosynthetic traits under variable light and temperature regimes, revealing distinct light absorption and photosynthetic efficiencies, and a metabolic adaptation to temperature. Two variants, S. natans-VIII and S. fluitans-III, showed reduced thallus respiration rates, enhancing photosynthetic production at elevated temperature, and explaining their dominance in warmer tropical regions. Conversely, the smallest variant, S. natans I, exhibited superior light-harvesting and photosynthetic efficiencies and lower nutrient demands, aligning with its previous dominance in the Sargasso Sea oligotrophic conditions. These functional differences, combined with increased nutrient availability from ocean fertilization and rising temperatures due to global warming, can explain the massive proliferation of Sargassum in the tropical Atlantic. Our findings stress the role of physiological and optical traits in explaining variant dominance within algal populations and provide a foundation for predictive models and management strategies addressing large-scale algal blooms. They also highlight the potential of pelagic Sargassum as a potential model for studying adaptive traits in asexual lineages through metabolic tuning.
Reference Key
openalex_W7171993071 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Roberto Velázquez-Ochoa, Luis A. González-Guerrero, Susana Enríquez
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal Journal of experimental botany
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jxb/erag387
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erag387
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.