Response of long-term starved (1.6years) bathypelagic prokaryotes to enrichment with surface derived dissolved organic matter.

Experiments with cultured bacteria have shown that they display feast and famine strategies that allow them to grow upon pulses in resource availability, and enter a non-growth state when resources are limiting. Although feast responses have been observed in natural communities upon enrichment, it is unknown whether this blooming ability is maintained after long periods of starvation, particularly in systems that are energy limited, like the bathypelagic ocean. Here we monitored the response of long-term starved bathypelagic prokaryotes (1.6years) to a sudden carbon supply. Experiment was performed in triplicate, and lasted 9 days.