A group of chemists, microbiologists, and ecologists has developed a molecular probe (a molecule designed to detect e.g. proteins or DNA inside an organism) that glows when a sugar is broken down.
A group of chemists, microbiologists, and ecologists has developed a molecular probe (a molecule designed to detect e.g. proteins or DNA inside an organism) that glows when a sugar is broken down. Writing in the journal JACS, the researchers describe how this innovation makes it possible to observe the microscopic competition between algae and the microbes that consume their sugars in the ocean.
"Sugars are ubiquitous in marine ecosystems, yet it's still unclear whether or how microbes can degrade them all," says Jan-Hendrik Hehemann from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and the MARUM -- Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, both located in Bremen. "The new probe allows us to watch it happen live," Peter Seeberger from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces adds.
Sugars Capture Carbon
Algae take in carbon dioxide and transform it into oxygen and organic matter, with sugars playing a central role in the process. Yet not every sugar is easy for microbes to digest. Some are so complex that only a few microorganisms can break them down. When these tough sugars resist decay, the carbon they contain sinks to the seafloor, where it can remain trapped for centuries until the right enzymes appear. Determining which microbes can digest specific sugars has long challenged scientists, especially in diverse ocean ecosystems.
Read More: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
