Microbiology (Environment and Climate)

 

Expansive sandy beach with scattered footprints, gentle ocean waves, and distant cliffs under a partly cloudy sky.

Denitrification in tiny anoxic pockets on sand grains could account for up to one-third of total nitrogen loss in silicate shelf sands more

When the pressure is on, Archaea go multicellular

Mechanical compression induces multicellular organization in archaea more

Algae may speed up Greenland ice melt

The tiny ice inhabitants darken the glacier surface and can thus accelerate its melting.  more

Globally distributed symbiosis between microorganisms

Researchers in Bremen have discovered symbionts reminiscent of mitochondria and elucidated their metabolic pathways more

Metabolism of ethane-consuming archaea unraveled

Enzyme complexes enable archaea to break down ethane more

Animal life beneath the seafloor

Scientists discover worms and snails in cavities and caves around hydrothermal vents more

Vagabonds and homebodies in the seabed

Researchers discover different ecological niches for bacteria in the sediment more

Methane degradation without oxygen in lakes

Aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria are also permanently active in oxygen-free water more

Swimming bacteria shape communities

Researchers discover structure in microbial communities of swimmers and non-swimmers more

Rhizobial bacterium helps diatom to bind nitrogen

Newly discovered symbiosis probably plays a major role in marine nitrogen fixation more

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When the pressure is on, Archaea go multicellular

Mechanical compression induces multicellular organization in archaea more

Algae may speed up Greenland ice melt

The tiny ice inhabitants darken the glacier surface and can thus accelerate its melting.  more

Animal life beneath the seafloor

Scientists discover worms and snails in cavities and caves around hydrothermal vents more

Methane degradation without oxygen in lakes

Aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria are also permanently active in oxygen-free water more

Rhizobial bacterium helps diatom to bind nitrogen

Newly discovered symbiosis probably plays a major role in marine nitrogen fixation more

Microorganisms break down petroleum components in the seabed

Archaea cultivated in the laboratory are active even at high temperatures and without oxygen more

Reviving Stone Age molecules

Scientists are rebuilding microbial natural products up to 100,000 years old using dental calculus of humans and Neanderthals more

Life in the smoke of underwater volcanoes

The plumes from hydrothermal vents provide an ecological link between the open ocean and the seafloor more

Seagrass meadows

Researchers have discovered vast amounts of sugars underneath seagrass meadows more

All organisms produce methane

The formation of the greenhouse gas is driven by reactive oxygen species more

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Every grain of sand is a met­ro­polis for bac­teria

A single sand grain harbours up to 100,000 microorganisms from thousands of species. more

Oil as energy source for deep-sea creatures

Scientists discover mussels and sponges in the deep sea which can thrive on oil with the help of symbiont bacteria more

Getting to the bottom of the deep sea

Antje Boetius from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen always has multiple objectives in her sights: from discovery and precautionary research to technological development and scientific communication. more

Oil degradation without oxygen

Some bacteria do not require oxygen to degrade crude oil. They can survive even deep within the ocean's sedimentary layers more

Bacteria detoxify deadly seawater

Microorganisms turn poisonous sulphide into harmless sulphur - thus protecting sea life more

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