An abundant #phytoplankton feeds a global network of marine microbes https://news.mit.edu/2025/abundant-phytoplankton-feeds-marine-microbe-global-network-0103 paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adp1949

"#Prochlorococcus shed DNA building blocks into their surroundings, where they are then taken up by other ocean organisms, either as nutrients, energy, or for regulating metabolism... this cross-feeding occurs on a regular cycle: Prochlorococcus tend to shed their molecular baggage at night, when enterprising #microbes quickly consume the cast-offs."

Researchers shed new light on #carboxysomes in key discovery that could boost #photosynthesis,

#cyanobcteria #RuBisCO #CsoS2 #Prochlorococcus #CO2

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-carboxysomes-key-discovery-boost-photosynthesis.html

How a #cyanobacterium manages #iron scarcity makes it the most successful #photosynthetic organism on Earth.

#Prochlorococcus #FutA #protein #redox

https://phys.org/news/2024-04-cyanobacterium-iron-scarcity-successful-photosynthetic.html

Prochlorococcus is the smallest photosynthetic organism on Earth, and produces up to 20% of the oxygen in our entire biosphere.

#science #sciencefacts #prochlorococcus #photosyntheticorganism #oxygen #biosphere

11-May-2023
Like ancient mariners, ancestors of #Prochlorococcus microbes rode out to sea on exoskeleton particles

A new study shows the carbon-capturing #phytoplankton colonized the ocean by rafting on particles of chitin
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/989050 #science #ecology #evolution #oceans #CarbonSequestration

#Microbe filter feeders

This recent research explores how mesh feeding #zooplankton are able to feed directly on #prokaryotic #microorganiisms and suggests #Prochlorococcus (#Cyanobacteria) may be able to evade #predation.

Find out more in Environmental Microbiology on:

https://ami-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1462-2920.16334

#microbiology #ecology #microbialecology #marinebiology

Scientists discover a new way of sharing #genetic information in a common ocean #microbe

#genetransfer #Prochlorococcus #bacteria

https://phys.org/news/2023-01-scientists-genetic-common-ocean-microbe.html

Scientists discover a new way of sharing genetic information in a common ocean microbe https://phys.org/news/2023-01-scientists-genetic-common-ocean-microbe.html

Novel integrative elements and genomic plasticity in ocean ecosystems https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)01519-7

#Prochlorococcus #bacteria exchange genetic information with one another, even when widely separated, by a previously undocumented mechanism. This enables them to transmit whole blocks of genes even in regions where their population in the water is relatively sparse.

@animalculum I love #Prochlorococcus! They definitely don't get enough attention for all the amazing things they do for the world!

Ocean microbes get their diet through a surprising mix of sources https://phys.org/news/2022-11-ocean-microbes-diet-sources.html Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-022-01250-5

Organisms that use a mix of strategies to provide #carbon are known as #mixotrophs. Most marine #plankton are mixotrophs. #Prochlorococcus may be more of a #mixotroph than it lets on. The #microbe may get as much as one-third of its carbon through consuming the dissolved remains of other dead #microbes.

One of the smallest and mightiest #organisms on the planet is a plant-like #bacterium known to marine biologists as #Prochlorococcus.
#Microbiology #EarthScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2022/11/mcb11032202.html