Marine Microbes Swim Towards Their Favorite Food
Published:25 Apr.2022 Source:University of Technology Sydney
Although invisible to us, every teaspoon of seawater contains more than a million marine bacteria. These tiny microbes play pivotal roles in governing the chemical cycles that control our climate and shape the health of the global ocean, but are they passive drifters or purposeful hunters?
New research demonstrates that bacteria in the ocean use similar behaviours to many foraging animals, swimming through their environment while hunting and selecting their preferred "food" among a soup of chemicals in seawater.