Microscopic Ocean Predator with A Taste for Carbon Capture
Published:20 Mar.2022 Source:University of Technology Sydney
Scientists at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have discovered a new species that has the potential to sequester carbon naturally, even as oceans warm and become more acidic.
The microbe, abundant around the world, photosynthesises and releases a carbon-rich exopolymer that attracts and immobilises other microbes. It then eats some of the entrapped prey before abandoning its exopolymer "mucosphere." Having trapped other microbes, the exopolymer is made heavier and sinks, forming part of the ocean's natural biological carbon pump.