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.
Astronomers have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b. On Earth, these are only produced by life, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton.
Read storyMicroorganisms have evolved a variety of methods for fixing carbon. Researchers investigated the methods that are utilized at extremely hot, acidic and sulfur-rich hydrothermal vents in shallow waters off the island of Kueishantao, Taiwan.
New research reveals the remarkable chemical diversity of substances exuded by coral reefs and demonstrates that thousands of different chemicals derived from tropical corals and seaweeds are available for microbes to decompose and utilize.
Scientists have not only found a virus in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii but discovered the largest one ever recorded with a latent infection cycle, meaning it goes dormant in the host before being reactivated to cause disease.
Through satellite tracking, a global study uncovered the reasons behind the stimulation of phytoplankton growth in the North Pacific Ocean, linking to the deposition of ashes to the major eruption of the Kīlauea Volcano in 2018 and nutrient deprivation in the ocean.
Researchers have compiled a database of sightings of bioluminescent ‘milky seas’, showing that sightings usually happen around the Arabian Sea and Southeast Asian waters and are statistically related to the Indian Ocean Dipole and El Niño Southern Oscillation.
In 2013, 8% of the bottlenose dolphins living in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon died. Investigations have now revealed that the dolphins may have starved because key habitats for nutritious prey were destroyed by a phytoplankton bloom driven by the accumulation of fertilizer, effluent from septic tanks, and other by-products of human activity.
A group of diatom species belonging to the Nitzschia genus gave up on photosynthesis and now get their carbon straight from their environment, thanks to a bacterial gene picked up by an ancestor, a new study shows.
A recent study which examined threatened Staghorn coral species found that while some coral genotypes displayed resistance to either high nutrient levels from run-off or disease, none were resistant to both stressors simultaneously.
Scientists find evidence that our oceans used to be green, suggesting that this may be a sign of primitive life, including that on alien worlds. The study suggests that cyanobacteria once flourished in green seas.
Oil spills across large areas of seawater disturb oxygen circulation for marine organisms, cause hypothermia in birds, adversely affect navigation routes, and hinder anthropogenic actions like fisheries and tourism. Biological treatments appear to be a promising method and offer a sustainable solution.
Biofilms are ubiquitous in aquatic systems, where they play essential ecological roles in nutrient cycling, biogeochemical processes, and surface colonisation dynamics.
Researchers examining links between Asgard archaea and eukaryotes have shown that Asgard tubulins form similar microtubules, albeit smaller than those in their eukaryotic relatives. Unlike actin, these tubulin proteins appear in very few species of Asgard archaea.
Ocean pollution is widespread and worsening by the day. From oil spills to garbage accumulation in the Pacific, marine ecosystems are in dire need of a solution.
Leading scientists from around the world recently convened at the Center for Microbiome Innovation’s International Microbiome Meeting (CIMM) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.
A new study identifies viruses associated with Karenia brevis, the single-celled organism that causes red tide. By testing water samples collected from red tide blooms, the researchers found several viruses in blooms — including one new viral species.
The red coral colonies that were transplanted a decade ago on the seabed of the Medes Islands have survived successfully. They are very similar to the original communities and have contributed to the recovery of the functioning of the coral reef.
Researchers have successfully used microbes to reduce the heavy metal toxicity of soils and wastewater through bioremediation. Could they eventually use a similar approach to target heavy metals in the ocean?
Scientists utilises single celll genomics and cell staining approaches to investigate the respiratory rates and metabolic activities of the diverse microbial communities in low biomass aqautic environments, such as Maine’s coastal sediments.
UNCG philosopher of biology Dr. Derek Skillings is the lead investigator on a new, three-year, $600,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a study of the emergence and evolution of goal-directed behavior in collective entities.
Bacteria and other microbes in the seas around Antarctica are strongly influenced by water temperature and the amount of sea ice. This is shown by coordinated measurements taken off the coast of the west Antarctic Peninsula, scientists say.
The proliferation of the Ostreopsis ovata algae is no cause for alarm, but it is advisable to continue taking measurements, according to researchers.
A graduating PhD student has made an interesting discovery about a common thermophilic bacteria dwelling in hots prings which is able to simultaneously respirate and metabolize via aerobic and anaerobic pathways.