Your new post is loading...
Scientists have confirmed that viruses can kill marine algae called diatoms and that diatom die-offs near the ocean surface may provide nutrients and organic matter for recycling by other algae, according to a Rutgers-led study.
Environmental conditions can accelerate diatom mortality from viral infection, which is important for understanding how diatoms influence carbon cycling and respond to changes in the oceans, including warming waters from climate change. Diatoms, which are single-celled algae that generate about 20 percent of the Earth's oxygen, help store carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, in the oceans.
"Our study showed that when silicon levels in the ocean are low, diatoms can be more rapidly infected and killed by viruses and are then more likely to release their nutrients and other matter in the surface ocean instead of sinking." said senior author Kim Thamatrakoln, associate research professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
Silicon is essential for diatom growth, but since glass is heavy, diatoms can sink to the deep ocean when they die. That makes all of their nutrients, carbon and organic matter unavailable for surface recycling by other algae that need sunlight only available in the upper ocean. Diatoms are infected by the smallest viruses on Earth and were once believed to be immune because of their glass-based armor. Such viruses have long escaped detection by traditional methods and very little was known about how they affect diatoms. Diatoms take up dissolved silicon from the environment and turn it into glass for their cell walls. But most of the surface waters where diatoms live have low silicon levels, so these findings suggest viral infection may play an important role in controlling diatom populations globally.
The study was published in Nature Microbiology:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0502-x
Via Juan Lama
