Did sponge microbiomes help aerate the oceans?

• Autores: Catherine Brahic
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3010, 2015, pág. 17
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Tiny bacteria living inside sponges seem to be symbiotic and may have played a part in the drama that transformed Earth's deep oceans 750 million years ago. The discovery of the curious bacteria was an accident, says Fan Zhang of the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He and his colleagues happened to notice microscopic phosphate granules spread throughout the tissue of three different species of Caribbean sponges they had in the lab. Living inside the sponges were bacteria that suck phosphorus out of seawater and precipitate it into granules. The team proposes how sponges and bacteria live in symbiosis to make the most of the phosphorus in the water for their own nutrition.