Ocean circulation fundamentally impacts the global carbon cycle through the interplay of physical and biogeochemical processes. Within these processes, microbial transformation of organic matter is a pivotal step in the recycling of nutrients and carbon sequestration in the ocean, influencing the magnitude of carbon flux exported from the upper ocean to the deep sea. Our metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses suggest that microbial ecological and evolutionary strategies shaped by ocean circulations may contribute to organic matter degradation hotspots at global fronts, providing new insights into the intricate interactions among ocean currents, microbial communities, and biogeochemical cycles.

microbial remineralization, frontal systems, interspecies competition, extracellular enzymes