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Could the sea be conscious? Research reveals how tiny
plankton behave like a marine 'megamind'
U.S. researchers find that different forms of
picoplankton react as one to environmental changes
Although as different as humans and fungi, the
creatures' behaviour was linked
Findings could help researchers understand why some
species are impossible to grow in isolation
By DAMIEN GAYLE
PUBLISHED: 16:36 GMT, 13 February 2013 | UPDATED:
17:56 GMT, 13 February 2013
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Vastly different species of sea microbes work together
to respond as one to their surroundings as if they have one 'megamind', new
research has revealed.
U.S. researchers have discovered communities of
infinitesimal creatures in our oceans react in unison to changes in their
environment.
The links between them are not well understood, but
findings suggest the creatures rely on each other to almost the same extent as
the different cells in a human body.
Megamind: Despite the amazing diversity of marine
microbes, a new research paper shows that many different groups work together
to react in unison to their surroundings
As an example, if one set of the microbes were, say,
creating energy through photosynthesis, which would then produce carbon
dioxide, another set of microbes would somehow know and react - perhaps
preparing to absorb the carbon dioxide.
The open sea contains an amazing diversity of
extremely tiny organisms called picoplankton, which include relatively simple
life forms such as marine bacteria, as well as more complicated organisms.
Microbiologists who study wild marine microbes, as
opposed to the lab-grown variety, face enormous challenges in getting a clear
picture of the daily activities of their subjects.
To take a look at these creatures in their natural
habitat, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute used a new method for collecting
marine microbes.
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They created a robotic sampling device which dangled
beneath the waves to collect samples of one billion microbes every four hours.
Similar to fast photography that stops action, the
robotic device 'fixed' each sample so that whatever genes the microbes were
expressing at the moment of capture were preserved for later study.
After returning the samples to the lab, researchers
used cutting-edge analysis techniques to figure out which genes within the
microbes were actively being used at different times of day.
This involved sorting through millions of billions of
fragments of genetic material and then assigning each fragment to a specific
gene and a specific type of microbe.
In so doing they created a time-lapse montage of the
daily labours of a range of microbial species over a two-day period.
A research vessel drifts near the buoy supporting the
Environmental Sample Processor used to collect microbes for the experiment.
Inset shows the yellow float with the ESP pressure housing suspended in the
water
'A naturalist like Sir David Attenborough can follow a
herd of elk and see how the elk’s behavior changes hour to hour, day to day and
week to week,' said Edward DeLong, professor of environmental systems at MIT.
HOW RESEARCHERS 'FROZE TIME' TO MAKE THEIR FINDINGS
Using their robot microbe collecting device,
researchers were able to gather samples of one billion microbes every four
hours and keep them 'fixed' at the moment of collection.
This meant that whatever genes the microbes were
expressing at the moment of capture were preserved for later study in the lab.
Microbes are extraordinarily sensitive to slight
environmental changes, altering their gene expression rapidly in response to
fluctuations in temperature, light, nutrient availability and other
environmental variables.
Because of this, the genes they express tell a story
about their habitat and their interactions with it.
In essence, changes in their gene expression provide
information on the good times and the bad times they experience.
In a sense, each naturally occurring microbe is a
living sensor and the researchers can read the sensors’ outputs by studying
their gene expression.
By studying these environmental responses the
MIT/MBARI team were able to make completely new findings about the behaviour of
the creatures.
'But we haven’t been able to observe naturally
occurring microbes with that kind of resolution until now.'
Professor DeLong, who is lead author of a paper in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences detailing the research, added:
'We've essentially captured a day in the life of these microbes.
'As little as three years ago, I wouldn’t have even
have considered it possible to get such a high resolution picture of microbial
population dynamics and activity in the "real world".'
The montage showed photosynthetic microbes, which
create the oxygen, energy and organic carbon used by the rest of the food web,
ramped up their light-utilising activities in the morning and powered those
down at night, just as their domestic brethren do in response to light and dark
in the lab.
But the underwater scenes also showed something
scientists had never seen before.
Non-photosynthetic, carbon-eating microbes of very
different species displayed synchronised, rapidly varying metabolic gene
expression - despite the fact that they came from groups as different as humans
and fungi.
Some of the genes simultaneously expressed by
different species shared the same function — for instance, genes associated
with growth or respiration.
Others encoded very different functions, mirroring the
varied metabolic capabilities of the disparate species.
'We've essentially captured a day in the life of these
microbes': Researchers readying the robotic device connected to a buoy for its
two-day sampling journey off the coast of California
The researchers hypothesised that all these microbes
were reacting to the same environmental changes, but that different groups of
microbes were responding in different ways.
Although the researchers cannot tell exactly which
environmental changes the microbes were responding to, they suspect that the
different groups of microbes were working together to obtain different types of
food.
For example, some picoplankton could have been
consuming large organic compounds such as proteins and fats. In the process,
they could have produced simpler organic compounds, such as amino acids, which
were then released into the surrounding seawater and consumed by other
picoplankton.
'These results show a surprising amount of
coordination between marine microbes,' said a spokesman for the Monterey Bay
Aquarium Research Institute.
'They also suggest that, as in the food webs of larger
organisms, many different groups of marine microbes rely on each other to
survive on a day-to-day basis.
'This could help explain why so many species of marine
microbes are difficult or impossible to grow by themselves in the lab.'
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2278137/Could-sea-conscious-Research-reveals-tiny-plankton-behave-like-marine-microbial-megamind.html#ixzz2L0Su91Jh
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