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.
Antibiotics in sediments may quietly boost greenhouse gas emissions
A study shows that pharmaceutical pollution alters nitrogen cycling and greenhouse gas emissions in coastal sediments. Even environmentally relevant antibiotic concentrations increased N₂O release, suggesting that widespread contamination may enhance estuarine climate forcing.
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Deep ocean earthquakes drive Southern Ocean’s massive phytoplankton blooms, study finds
Researchers have uncovered evidence that deep underwater earthquakes can spur the growth of massive phytoplankton blooms at the ocean surface. The new findings point to a previously unknown relationship between the ocean floor and life at the surface.
Bacteria resisting viral infection can still sink carbon to ocean floor
Researchers exploring the mechanisms of phage resistance and its effects on the ecological jobs done by ocean bacteria found that some of the mutations studied don’t interfere with the bacteria’s ability to carry out their job of capturing and sinking carbon to the ocean floor.
Study reveals how ocean’s most abundant bacteria diversify
New research has found that SAR11 marine bacteria are not a single, uniform population as often thought. Instead, they are organized into stable, ecologically distinct groups, essentially specialized “teams” adapted to specific environments, such as the coast versus the open ocean.
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A coral reef’s daily pulse reshapes microbes in surrounding waters
A new study shows that coral reefs don’t just provide a home for ocean life, they also help set the daily “schedule” for tiny microbes living in the water nearby. Over the course of a single day, the quantity and types of microbes present can shift dramatically.
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Breakthrough AI speeds up discovery of life-supporting microbes
Scientists have developed a powerful new artificial intelligence tool called LA⁴SR that can rapidly identify previously overlooked proteins in microalgae - tiny organisms that produce much of the Earth’s oxygen and support entire aquatic ecosystems.
Study showcases resilience and rapid growth of ‘living rocks’
South Africa is home to some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth, contained in rocky, often layered outcroppings called microbialites. Like coral reefs, these complex “living rocks” are built up by microbes absorbing and precipitating dissolved minerals into solid formations.
Pandemic ‘beneath the surface’ has been quietly wiping out sea urchins around the world
Over the last four years, an unrecognized pandemic that has been wiping out sea urchins around the world has hit the Canary Islands. The consequences on marine ecosystems aren’t yet fully known, but likely profound.
The smell of the sea: how microbes shape Earth’s sulfur story
That distinctive “sea breeze” scent we associate with the coast isn’t just nostalgia; it’s the smell of microbial chemistry at work. Behind it lies an intricate web of microbial pathways turning sulfur compounds into gases that help shape Earth’s climate.
Horseshoe crab fossil reveals early mass-burial event and ancient microbial attack
A remarkably preserved horseshoe crab fossil from North America offers rare insight into some of the earliest known cases of animal disease in a Late Carboniferous swamp – more than 300 million years before the age of dinosaurs.
Climate extremes triggered rare coral disease and mass mortality on the Great Barrier Reef
Marine biologists have identified a devastating combination of coral bleaching and a rare necrotic wasting disease that wiped out large, long-lived corals on the Great Barrier Reef during the record 2024 marine heatwave.
Deep sea microbes yield up their engineering secrets
A biomatrix of tiny tubes of protein, known as cannulae, link cells of the thermal vent-dwelling archaeon Pyrodictium abyssi together into a highly stable microbial community. A study reveals new details about the elegant design of the cannulae and their method of construction.
Previously unrecognized pathway in plants and phytoplankton offers mercury-detox powers
Primary producers—including phytoplankton—possess a previously overlooked ability to internally break down and detoxify methylmercury. The demethylation pathway rapidly converts methylmercury into less toxic inorganic mercury, which is subsequently reduced to gaseous Hg⁰.
The mystery of the missing deep ocean carbon fixers
New findings challenge the current view of how carbon dioxide is “fixed” in the sunless ocean depths. The study presents results that help to reconcile discrepancies in accounting for nitrogen supply and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fixation at depth.
VIRE: a global data platform to better understand viruses
Researchers have released a comprehensive viral genome database covering diverse ecosystems to advance the understanding of viral evolution and ecosystem functions.
Island-wide field surveys illuminate land-sea connections in Mo‘orea
A multi-year scientific expedition determined that land use on tropical islands can shape water quality in lagoons and rainfall can be an important mediator for connections between land and lagoon waters.
Microplastics pose a human health risk in more ways than one
A new study shows that microplastics in the natural environment are colonised by pathogenic and antimicrobial resistant bacteria. The study team calls for urgent action for waste management and strongly recommends wearing gloves when taking part in beach cleans.
Oceanographers present new conceptual framework to answer age-old question: What happens to carbon as it sinks through the ocean?
New research spanning multiple ocean regions has found upper ocean ecosystem conditions, such as nutrient availability and microbial interactions, play a major role in shaping the composition of carbon-rich particles sinking into the deep ocean.
New study reveals how a common antibiotic disrupts nitrogen cycling and boosts greenhouse gas emissions in estuaries
Antibiotics may have far reaching impacts on wetland chemistry, according to a new study that identifies the bacteria responsible for breaking down the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole and links this process to increased emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.
Marine viruses use ‘hijacked’ genes to take over bacteria and exploit their energy systems
Marine viruses deploy a sophisticated Trojan horse maneuver that enables them to dismantle the energy systems of ocean bacteria and use the breakdown products for self-replication, according to a new study.
Clues to origins of complex life revealed with discovery of new unicellular organism and phylum
A new paper describes the discovery of Solarion arienae, a previously unknown unicellular organism that provides new insight into the earliest stages of complex life on Earth. This microscopic protist displays two distinct cell types and a unique predatory structure unlike any seen before.
Team discovers cyanobacteria activate different genes by day and by night
By analyzing gene expression in the cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme, scientists discovered that during daylight, the cells focus on metabolism. But under cover of darkness, they turn to the control of genome repair and activate various genetic elements.
The road ahead: why conserving the invisible 99% of life is fundamental to planetary health
A new paper outlines how scientists came together to put together the first microbial conservation roadmap under the leadership of Applied Microbiology International President, Professor Jack Gilbert.