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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The Follows Group goes to Annual Meeting 2021
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2021 Annual Meeting microtalk: Do non-trophic interactions drive micronutrient cycling and microbial community succession in Antarctic coastal seas? – Deepa Rao (MIT)
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Antarctic Marine Microbes Need Their Multivitamins
In the austral summer season of December 2017 – February 2018, MIT CBIOMES member Deepa Rao, a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, participated in the NSF funded CICLOPS cruise to explore cobalamin and iron co-limitation of phytoplankton species in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. Continue reading “Antarctic Marine Microbes Need Their Multivitamins”
CBIOMES Welcomes Deepa Rao
by Helen Hill for CBIOMES
A warm welcome to graduate student Deepa Rao, who joins the MIT-CBIOMES Group this month. Continue reading “CBIOMES Welcomes Deepa Rao”