Tiny Ocean Organism May Help Regulate Earth's Climate

Scientists recently discovered that a tiny, yet abundant ocean organism is helping regulate the Earth's climate. These bacteria, called "Pelagibacterales" plays an important role in the keeping the atmosphere stable.

The bugs that COOL the planet: Pelagibacterales @bentempertonhttps://t.co/84CAmQ3mV5 pic.twitter.com/4NLlRUAO1F

— Elisabeth Bik (@MicrobiomDigest) May 16, 2016

The project, led by Professor Steve Giovannoni and Dr. Jing Sun at the Oregon State University showed that the tiny bacteria could make for an environmentally important gas, called the dimethyl sulfide. Science 2.0 noted that researchers at UEA characterized the gene that is responsible for such an effect.

Dr. Jonathan todd from UEA's school of Biological Sciences shared that these ocean bacteria are among the most abundant on earth - so much so that there are about half a million microbial cells found in every teaspoon of seawater.

Studying it at a molecular genetic level, scientists discovered exactly how the gas was able to generate dimethylsulfide (DMS), which is known for stimulating cloud formation.

Published on Nature Microbiology, the study found that the compound called dimethylsulfoniopropionate, made in large amounts by marine plankton is broken down into DMS by the tiny ocean organisms called Pelagibacterales - which results in the DMS gas regulating the climate by increasing cloud droplets that reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the ocean's surface.

Dr. Emily Fowler from the UEA school of Biological Sciences worked on the characterization of the Pelagibacterales DMS generating enzymes, and in her study, she found how they are present in other hugely abundant marine bacterial species, which means that people may have been vastly underestimating the microbial contribution of their production of the important gas.

A professor from Exeter University shared, "This work shows that the Pelagibacterales are likely an important component in climate stability. If we are going to improve models of how DMS impacts climate, we need to consider this organism as a major contributor."