Vitamin B12 deficiency in people can cause a slew of health problems and even become fatal. Until now, the same deficiencies were thought to impact certain types of algae, as well. A new study led by former MIT CBIOMES postdoc Deepa Rao examined the algae Phaeocystis antarctica’s (P. antarctica) exposure to a matrix of iron and vitamin B12 conditions. Results show that this algae can survive without B12, something that computer analysis of genome sequences had incorrectly indicated.
Continue reading “Vitamin B12 adaptability in Antarctic algae has implications for climate change”
NEW CBIOMES PUBLICATION
Deepa Rao, Zoltán Füssy, Margaret M. Brisbin, Matthew R. McIlvin, Dawn M. Moran, Andrew E. Allen, Michael J. Follows, Mak A. Saito (2024), Flexible B12 ecophysiology of Phaeocystis antarctica due to a fusion B12–independent methionine synthase with widespread homologues, PNAS, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2204075121
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NEW CBIOMES PUBLICATION
Sergio M. Vallina, Charlie Gaborit, Celia Marrase, Josep M. Gasol, Nixon Bahamon, Michael J. Follows, Guillaume Le Gland,
Pedro Cermeño (2023), Seasonal dynamics of phytoplankton community assembly at the Blanes Bay Microbial Observatory (BBMO), NW Mediterranean Sea, Progress in Oceanography, doi: 10.1016/j.pocean.2023.103125
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NEW CBIOMES PUBLICATION
Enrico Ser-Giacomi, Ricardo Martinez-Garcia, Stephanie Dutkiewicz, and Michael J. Follows (2023), A Lagrangian model for drifting ecosystems reveals heterogeneity-driven enhancement of marine plankton blooms, Nature Communications, doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41469-2
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Michael Follows Awarded 2023 Huntsman Medal
Warm congratulations to the Director of CBIOMES on news of his recent award.
Read this announcement at the Huntsman Award website Continue reading “Michael Follows Awarded 2023 Huntsman Medal”
NEW CBIOMES PUBLICATION
Krinos, A., N. Cohen, M.J. Follows and H. Alexander (2023), Reverse engineering environmental meta-transcriptomes clarifies best practices for eukaryotic assembly, BMC Bioinformatics, doi: 10.1186/s12859-022-05121-y
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NEW CBIOMES PUBLICATION
Anne Willem Omta, Elizabeth A. Heiny, Harshana Rajakaruna, David Talmy, Michael J. Follows (2023), Trophic model closure influences ecosystem response to enrichment, Ecological Modelling, doi: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2022.110183
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NEW CBIOMES PUBLICATION
Keisuke Inomura, Curtis Deutsch, Oliver Jahn, Stephanie Dutkiewicz and Michael J. Follows (2022), Global patterns in marine organic matter stoichiometry driven by phytoplankton ecophysiology, Nature Geoscience, doi: 10.1038/s41561-022-01066-2
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Ocean microbes get their diet through a surprising mix of sources, study finds
Up to one-third of the carbon consumed by Prochlorococcus may come from sources other than photosynthesis.
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Small eddies play a big role in feeding ocean microbes
New study from MIT-CBIOMES finds swirling waters replenish nutrients in open ocean, and could mitigate some climate change effects. Continue reading “Small eddies play a big role in feeding ocean microbes”