A phytoplankton almost as old as Earth—about 3 billion years compared to the planet’s 4.5 billion years—still holds secrets, including how it can survive starvation in the most nutrient-deficient oceans. Synechococcus is the most geographically diverse of three phytoplankton species, contributing to a quarter of the oceans’ primary production and appearing in both frigid polar waters and warm tropical seas.
October 3, 2022
A phytoplankton almost as old as Earth—about 3 billion years compared to the planet’s 4.5 billion years—still holds secrets, including how it can survive starvation in the most nutrient-deficient oceans. Synechococcus is the most geographically diverse of three phytoplankton species, contributing to a quarter of the oceans’ primary production and appearing in both frigid polar waters and warm tropical seas.
Now, researchers from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), may have discovered who to thank for the phytoplankton’s persistent existence: heterotrophic bacteria.
In a series of multi-year experiments, the team found that Synechococcus and the bacteria that feed on them may have an inherent tendency toward mutualism and will undergo significant changes to encourage each other’s survival. The marine algae Synechococcus and its associated heterotrophic bacterial community have an inseparably close relationship.
Their findings were published on Sept. 30 in Science Advances.
Previous studies include one in which the phytoplankton and its bacterial community thrived for more than two years without any external nutrient support.
