Ocean Sustainability
Over 70% of the earth is covered in water, which serves as a vital resource human subsistence. Contamination and acidification pose major threats to aquatic health and biodiversity. Microbes offer a promising solution in their ability to breakdown contamination from oil spills and plastics. Applied microbiologists can play a significant part in understanding biodiversity, contributing to solutions, and encouraging stewardship.
Coral identified as oldest bioluminescent organism, suggesting new model of ancient ecology
Researchers have identified eight organisms with previously unknown luminosity. Using genetic findings, they estimated coral bioluminescence originated about 540 million years ago in the Cambrian period, making them the earliest bioluminescent organisms.
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‘Sunny day flooding’ increases fecal contamination of coastal waters
A new study finds that ‘sunny day flooding’, which occurs during high tides, increases the levels of fecal bacteria in coastal waters, suggesting policymakers and public health officials should be aware of potential risks associated with tidal flooding.
Accelerated marine carbon cycling forced by tectonic degassing over the Miocene Climate Optimum
Massive carbon inputs from volcanism and seafloor spreading have impacted the orbital phase relationships between carbon cycle and climate change, a new study finds.
Marine microbial populations: Potential sensors of the global change in the ocean
A new study analyzes the knowledge generated to date on marine microbial populations and their role in the ecosystem, concluding that their analysis through space and time could reflect the effects of global change.
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Under the microscope: microplastics
Examining the issue of plastic pollution with a round-up of microbial advances from the last few years.
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Marine plankton behaviour could predict future marine extinctions, study finds
Marine communities migrated to Antarctica during the Earth’s warmest period in 66 million years long before a mass-extinction event.
Coral reef microbes point to new way to assess ecosystem health
A new study shows that ocean acidification is changing the mix of microbes in coral reef systems, which can be used to assess ecosystem health.
Microplastics, algal blooms, seafood safety are public health concerns addressed by new US Oceans and Human Health Centers
The NIH and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) are jointly funding four new Centers for Oceans and Human Health and renewing two centers as part of a marine-related health research program.
Cyanobacteria gene regulates growth of microbes that promote photosynthesis
Scientists have discovered a gene that plays a key role in the coordination of the nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism: with it, cyanobacteria indirectly regulate the growth of microorganisms that promote photosynthesis.
The nitroplast revealed: a nitrogen-fixing organelle in a marine alga
A nitrogen-fixing bacterial endosymbiont of marine algae is evolving into a nitrogen-fixing organelle, or nitroplast, thereby expanding a function that was thought to be exclusively carried out by prokaryotic cells to eukaryotes.
Tropical coral-infecting parasites discovered in cold marine ecosystems
Parasites thought only to infect tropical coral reefs have been discovered in a large variety of creatures in cold marine ecosystems along the Northeast Pacific, according to new research from University of British Columbia botanists.
A microbial plastic factory for high-quality green plastic
Engineered bacteria can produce a plastic modifier that makes renewably sourced plastic more processable, more fracture resistant and highly biodegradable even in sea water.
New study finds possibility of nitrogen-fixing organelles
Scientists who discovered nitrogen-fixing symbiotic organisms exhibiting behaviors similar to organelles suggest these symbiotic organisms – UCYN-A, a species of cyanobacteria – may be evolving organelle-like characteristics.
Microscopic sea urchin killer spreads to new species and regions
A parasite that devastated long-spined sea urchins in the Caribbean and Florida in 2022 has caused another die-off more than 7,000 miles away in the Sea of Oman.
Additional nutrients intensify dead zones in oceans
As more and more nutrients from land and air enter the world’s oceans, the dead zones without oxygen in the water will increase in size and intensity, a new study warns.
Researchers carry out first peer-reviewed study of fecal microbiota transplants in dolphins
Scientists have successfully carried out pioneering fecal microbiota transplantations on Navy bottlenose dolphins that showed signs of gastrointestinal disease.
Signs of life potentially detectable in single ice grain emitted from extraterrestrial moons
A new lab-based study shows that individual ice grains ejected from the moons of Saturn and Jupiter may potentially contain enough material for instruments headed there in the fall to detect signs of life, if such life exists.
Researchers explore role of salps as predators of marine microbes
Salps play a major role in controlling the abundances and function of microbial communities in the vast nutrient-poor open ocean, with global implications, a new study reveals.
Study reveals how hydrogen supplied energy at life’s origin
A new report uncovers how hydrogen gas provided energy in the past, at the origin of life 4 billion years ago.
Even inactive smokers are densely colonized by microbial communities
Even inactive smokers are important locations for microbial activity and the production of organic carbon on the sea floor, reveals a study investigating what happens to biotic communities at hydrothermal vents when the source of hot fluids is lost.
Research reveals novel herpesvirus in South American pinnipeds
Scientists detected Otariid gammaherpesvirus 1 (OtGHV1) in free-ranging South American pinnipeds, and a novel herpesvirus Otariid gammaherpesvirus 8 (OtGHV8) in South American sea lions (Otaria byronia) in the Southern Hemisphere.
Marine algae implants could boost crop yields
Scientists have discovered the gene that enables marine algae to make a unique type of chlorophyll. They successfully implanted this gene in a land plant, paving the way for better crop yields on less land.
Microbes impact coral bleaching susceptibility, new study shows
A new study provides insights into the role of microbes and their interaction as drivers of interspecific differences in coral thermal bleaching.
