Attack on 2 Fronts Leads Ocean Bacteria to Require Carbon Boost
Published:25 Oct.2022 Source:Ohio State University
The types of ocean bacteria known to absorb carbon dioxide from the air require more energy -- in the form of carbon -- and other resources when they're simultaneously infected by viruses and face attack from nearby predators, new research has found.
Viruses are abundant in the ocean, and research now suggests that marine viruses have beneficial functions, including helping to drive carbon absorbed from the atmosphere to permanent storage on the ocean floor. When viruses infect other microbes in that environment (and anywhere, in fact), the interaction results in creation of entirely new organisms called "virocells."
In this new study, researchers worked with cyanovirocells -- cyanobacteria that absorb carbon and release oxygen through photosynthesis that have been infected with viruses. The analysis of changes in the infected bacteria's gene activation and metabolism under lab conditions designed to mimic nature hints at an intriguing possibility: The dual threat of viral infection and drifting among hungry predator microbes might lead cyanovirocells to take in more carbon.