All phytoplankton articles
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NewsScientists team up with NASA to unlock ocean phytoplankton secrets from space
Scientists have teamed up with NASA on a new-generation satellite mission to study the colour of the ocean from space, providing vital information about ocean health and its role in climate regulation.
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News‘Invisible forest’ of algae thrives as ocean warms
An ‘invisible forest’ of phytoplankton is thriving in part of our warming ocean, new research shows. The study examined phytoplankton at the ocean surface and the ‘subsurface’ – a distinct layer of water beneath – to see how climate variability is affecting them.
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NewsScientists unravel drivers of the global zinc cycle in our oceans
The important role of the Southern Ocean in global biological processes and the carbon cycle has been confirmed by a study that, for the first time based on field evidence, reveals the underappreciated role of inorganic zinc particles in these cycles.
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NewsFor microscopic organisms, ocean currents act as ‘expressway’ to deeper depths
New research shows how tiny plant-like organisms hitch a ride on ocean currents to reach darker and deeper depths, where they impact carbon cycling and microbial dynamics in the subtropical oceans.
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NewsNitrogen has been underestimated in lake ecosystems, researchers warn
A new study shows that algae growth in shallow lakes around the world is affected not only by phosphorus but also by nitrogen.
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NewsUptake of methylmercury by phytoplankton is controlled by thiols
A new study shows that the concentrations of so-called thiols in the water control how available the methylmercury is to living organisms.
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NewsSome phytoplankton can blitz neurotoxin methylmercury - even in the dark
In the search for ways to fight methylmercury in global waterways, scientists have discovered that some forms of phytoplankton are good at degrading the potent neurotoxin - even in the absence of sunlight.
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NewsProchlorococcus ancestors rafted out to sea on chitin particles
Scientists propose that ancestors of Prochlorococcus hitched a ride on passing exoskeleton particles, using the particles as rafts to venture further out to sea. These chitin rafts may have also provided essential nutrients, fueling and sustaining the microbes along their journey.
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NewsCoastal ecosystem shows shifting bacterial extracellular hydrolytic systems
Scientists have found that a coastal ecosystem that experiences periodic phytoplankton blooms appears to have two distinct bacterial extracellular hydrolytic systems linked to shifts in bacterial community structure.
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NewsPhytoplankton 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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NewsTiny 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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News‘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.
