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#phytoplankton

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[Back on #Earth ...] Between land and sea there's the beach, the #sand and its grains of #quartz that the breaking #waves continuously disintegrate, feeding the #phytoplankton with dissolved silicon.

This new source of dissolved silicon has just been discovered by several OMP researchers, including Sébastien Fabre from IRAP. It joins those provided by rivers, groundwater discharges and hydrothermal vents.

How is the #BiologicalPump, the mechanism by which the ocean captures and sequesters atmospheric #CO2, affected? Find out here: irap.omp.eu/en/2025/03/the-con

Weekend #Plankton #Factoid 🦠🦐
The study of #phytoplankton is difficult because of their small size. For this we thank Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1722), the "father of microbiology". This Dutch draper was self-taught in creating high-quality #microscope lenses to examine thread. He then viewed tooth scrapings and water, coined the term "animalcules" for #protozoa, and first described Spirogyra (👍 genus name from JHF Link) as “spirally wound serpent-wise earthy particles”. A #science was born.

#Mikroorganismen in der #Antarktis reagieren stark auf steigende Temperaturen und den Rückgang des #Meereises.

Wärmere Bedingungen verändern das Gleichgewicht zwischen #Bakterien und #Phytoplankton – mit möglichen Folgen für die gesamte marine #Nahrungskette.

Weniger #Phytoplankton bedeutet weniger #Nährstoffe für #Krill, #Fische und #Meeressäuger.

dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40793-025-

BioMed CentralSpatial and temporal variation of Antarctic microbial interactions: a study around the west Antarctic Peninsula - Environmental MicrobiomeBackground The west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a region of rapid environmental changes, with regional differences in climate warming along the north–south axis of the peninsula. Along the WAP, Palmer corresponds to a warmer region with lesser sea ice extent in the north compared to Rothera ~ 400 km to the south. Comprehensive and comparative, year-round assessments of the WAP microbial community dynamics in coastal surface waters at these two locations are imperative to understand the effects of regional climate warming variations on microbial community dynamics, but this is still lacking. Results We report on the seasonal diversity, taxonomic overview, as well as predicted inter-and intra-domain causal effects (interactions) of the bacterial and microbial eukaryotic communities close to the Palmer station and at the Rothera time-series site between July 2013 and April 2014. Our 16S- and 18S-rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data showed that across all seasons, both bacteria and microbial eukaryotic communities were considerably different between the two sites which could be attributed to seawater temperature, and sea ice coverage in combination with sea ice type differences. Overall, in terms of biotic drivers, causal-effect modelling suggests that bacteria were stronger drivers of ecosystem dynamics at Palmer, while microbial eukaryotes played a stronger role at Rothera. The parasitic taxa Syndiniales persevered at both sites across the seasons, with Palmer and Rothera harbouring different key groups. Up to 62.3% of the negative causal effects were driven by Syndiniales at Rothera compared to only 13.5% at Palmer, suggesting that parasitism drives community dynamics at Rothera more strongly than at Palmer. Conversely, SAR11 Clade II, which was less abundant but persistent year-round at both sites, was the dominant driver at Palmer, evidenced by many (28.2% and 37.4% of positive and negative effects respectively) strong causal effects. Article note: Kindly check first page article notes are correct. Conclusions Our research has shed light on the dynamics of microbial community composition and correlative interactions at two sampling locations that represent different climate regimes along the WAP.

Weekend #Plankton #Factoid 🦠🦐
Most aquatic scientists, particularly those working on #algae are familiar with the name Hans Utermöhl. His name is synonymous with the "Utermöhl method" of settling #phytoplankton in a slide-off sedimentation chamber, with the base chamber assessed using an inverted light #microscope (which he helped develop). Every phytoplankton taxonomist uses this technique. He was foundational in the #German #limnology research community. #science
academic.oup.com/plankt/articl

Progression of a phytoplankton bloom. These images are taken over the course of 1 hour and demonstrate how fast ocean conditions can change. The dominant species of this bloom was the bioluminescent dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedra. Images were taken from the Scripps Pier Live Cam hosted by the Coastal Ocean Observing Lab #phytoplankton #harmfulalgalblooms #scrippspier #scrippsinstitutionofoceanography #oceanography #science #womeninscience

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

"#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."

#Phytochromes: The 'eyes' that enable #microalgae to find their way in aquatic depths phys.org/news/2024-12-phytochr

#Diatom phytochromes integrate the underwater light spectrum to sense depth: Carole Duchêne et al. nature.com/articles/s41586-024

"These photoreceptors enable them to detect changes in the light spectrum in the water column, thereby providing information regarding their vertical position within it."

"In our new research, published today in Nature, we explored the ability of tiny marine organisms called plankton to adapt to global warming. Our conclusion: some plankton are less able to adapt now than they were in the past."

#Phytoplankton:
- produce around 50% of the world’s oxygen.
- is at the bottom of the marine food chain
- forms a natural carbon fixation machine, storing 45 times more carbon than the atmosphere.

theconversation.com/tiny-ocean

The ConversationTiny oceanic plankton adapted to warming during the last ice age, but probably won’t survive future climate change – new studyScientists have compared data from the last ice age, around 21,000 years ago, and modern records to see what happened to plankton when the world has previously warmed.

Unveiling the Ocean’s Hidden Green: Robot Explorers Reveal Missing Half of Phytoplankton scitechdaily.com/unveiling-the

Carbon-centric dynamics of Earth’s marine phytoplankton pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2405

"Using data from #ArgoFloats, scientists have mapped the global distribution of #phytoplankton... This approach reveals that traditional satellite methods, focusing only on surface chlorophyll, significantly underrepresent the total biomass and misjudge the seasonal peak times in much of the oceans."

Phytoplankton Shield Ice Shelves from Summer Heat

Phytoplankton blooms in Antarctic waters help slow ice shelf melting by 7%. These marine microbes trap heat near the surface and provide shade, cooling deeper waters and reducing the impact of sunlight. However, a feedback loop with iron from melting ice limits their growth, highlighting a complex climate interaction.

globalplantcouncil.org/phytopl via AGU #PlantScience #PlantSci #Phytoplankton #ClimateChange #Science #Climate

Dust sparked biggest #PhytoplanktonBloom in decades esa.int/Applications/Observing

An exceptional #phytoplankton bloom in the southeast #Madagascar Sea driven by African dust deposition academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/art

"dust carried by the wind from southern Africa towards Madagascar triggered the largest #algae bloom in two decades – and, unusually, this occurred at a time of year when such blooms are rarely seen."