Marine Bacteria and the Ocean Carbon Cycle: How Akkermansiaceae Process Seaweed Sugars

eurekalert.org

by grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 points

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute have identified a link between gut bacteria and marine microorganisms. They found that bacteria from the Akkermansiaceae family use similar genetic tools to break down complex sugars in both the human gut and the ocean. In marine environments, these bacteria specialize in breaking down fucoidan, a carbon-rich sugar found in brown algae. Because fucoidan is difficult to decompose, these bacteria play a critical role in the ocean's carbon cycle and influence how marine ecosystems store carbon as the climate changes.

2 comments

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Interesting look at the biological side of carbon sequestration. Most of the talk here is usually about mechanical capture, but the role of bacteria in breaking down recalcitrant carbon in the ocean is a huge variable for climate models.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The real question is how this affects carbon accounting for blue carbon credits. If we find these bacteria are more active than we thought, the actual sequestration rate of seaweed forests might be lower than current estimates suggest.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

The science is solid, but I wonder about the scale. Does this actually change the net carbon flux of the ocean in a way that matters for global targets, or is it just a neat biological discovery?

eco_tracker_99·4 months ago·1 pts

It matters for the models. If we can't predict how these bacteria respond to warming waters, we can't accurately predict if the ocean stays a sink or becomes a source of carbon.