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.
Phytoplankton blooms offer insight into impacts of climate change
The first study into the biological response of the upper ocean in the wake of South Pacific cyclones could help predict the impact of warming ocean temperatures, New Zealand researchers believe.
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Scientists warn of rise in flesh-eating bacterial infection due to global warming
Continued warming of the climate would see a rise in the number and spread of potentially fatal infections caused by bacteria found along parts of the coast of the United States, researchers predict.
Bacteria flourish in plumes of deep ocean volcanoes
Deep down in the ocean at tectonic plate boundaries, hot fluids rise from so-called hydrothermal vents. The fluids are devoid of oxygen and contain large amounts of metals such as iron, manganese or copper. Some may also transport sulphides, methane and hydrogen.
Tiny chalk discs in oceans play key role in earth’s carbon cycle by propagating viruses
Researchers find biomineral structures formed by marine algae foment viral infection, contributing positively to capture CO2.
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3D printing with bacteria-loaded ink produces bone-like composites
Researchers have published a method for 3D-printing an ink that contains calcium carbonate-producing bacteria. The 3D-printed mineralized bio-composite is unprecedently strong, light, and environmentally friendlly.
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New phytoplankton study shines light on oceans’ capacity to absorb atmospheric CO2
A new study demonstrates the important role of a common group of marine calcifying phytoplankton (coccolithophores) in the regulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere.
Extreme edge - our interview with Sustainable Microbiology’s first Editor-in-Chief David Pearce
David Pearce, Editor-in-Chief of Sustainable Microbiology, the latest scientific journal launched by Applied Microbiology International, talks adaptability, environmental microbiology and life at a polar research station.
EC awards €7.65m to develop tools to harness marine microbiome data
The European Commission has awarded €7.65 million in funding to the BlueRemediomics project, which will develop novel tools and approaches to catalogue marine microbiome data and marine culture collections.
World first study sheds light on why microbes in the deep ocean live without sunlight
A world first study reverses the idea that the bulk of life in the ocean is fuelled by photosynthesis via sunshine, revealing that many ocean microbes in fact get their energy from hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
New species of microalgae found in home aquarium could deliver food, cosmetics and biofuel
Researchers analyzing DNA from a microalgae found in water from a home aquarium have discovered Medakamo hakoo, whose DNA sequence didn’t match any on record.
‘Friend or foe’ bacteria kill algal hosts when coexisting no longer works out
A study sheds new light on chemical processes that cause marine bacteria to switch from coexistence with an algae host to killer mode.
Researchers discover how bacteria in deep-sea vents deal with toxic metal environments
A new study investigates how bacteria in deep-sea hydrothermal vents can survive and thrive in the presence of highly toxic copper and cadmium.
Virus plus microplastics equal double whammy for fish health
A new lab study reveals that the presence of microplastics increases the severity of viral fish disease IHNV.
Rhodococcus reveals where missing plastic in world’s oceans could have gone
The bacterium Rhodococcus ruber eats and actually digests plastic - as revealed in laboratory experiments by PhD student Maaike Goudriaan at Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ).
Short-lived volcanic island harboured sulphur-metabolizing microbes
Researchers discovered a unique microbial community that metabolizes sulphur and atmospheric gases, similar to organisms found in deep sea vents or hot springs, on a volcanic island that only lasted for seven years.
Corals may punish cheating symbiont algae by cutting off their food supply
Corals may ‘punish’ the algae that live inside them by cutting off their food supply if such algae become selfish and renege on their part of the resource-sharing deal with the coral as part of their symbiosis.
Fungi convert ocean plastic into ingredients for drug industry
Research on fungi underway at the University of Kansas has helped transform tough-to-recycle plastic waste from the Pacific Ocean into key components for making pharmaceuticals.
Applied Microbiology International launches new open access journal, Sustainable Microbiology
Applied Microbiology International (AMI) is proud to announce the launch of its new journal, Sustainable Microbiology, in partnership with Oxford University Press.
Scientists discover a new way of sharing genetic information in a common ocean microbe
<i>Prochlorococcus</i>, the world’s most abundant photosynthetic organism, reveals a gene-transfer mechanism that may be key to its abundance and diversity.
Plankton may reveal ocean history - and even predict trends in chronic human illness
Tapping an almost century-long survey, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers say marine plankton may offer way to monitor historical marine pollution trends; and perhaps be used to predict trends in childhood and adult chronic illnesses.
New technique reveals marine microbes’ outsized role in carbon cycle
A small fraction of marine microorganisms are responsible for most of the consumption of oxygen and release of carbon dioxide in the ocean, new research suggests.
Toxic bacteria find floating homes on microfibres in the Mediterranean Sea
Almost 200 species of bacteria have colonized microfibres in the Mediterranean Sea, including one that causes food poisoning in humans, according to a new study.
Microscopic algae movements can be mapped in fine detail
The movement patterns of microscopic algae can be mapped in greater detail than ever before, giving new insights into ocean health, thanks to new technology developed at the University of Exeter.
