New research revealed the remarkable chemical diversity of substances exuded by coral reefs and demonstrated that thousands of different chemicals derived from tropical corals and seaweeds are available for microbes to decompose and utilize. The study, published recently in Environmental Microbiology by an international team led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa scientists, provides crucial insights into the intricate relationships between coral reefs, marine microorganisms, and the carbon cycle.
In dynamic ecosystems, and especially in the nutrient-limited environments where coral reefs grow, not much will go to waste. Microbes dominate when it comes to decomposing, recycling, and transforming what other organisms discard.
“We’ve known that some of the substances exuded on coral reefs, termed exometabolites, are available for microbial metabolism,” said Craig Nelson, professor in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “However, in this study, we discovered that the number and variety of exometabolites that microbes find useful is much higher than previously considered, and includes hundreds of compounds spanning most of the broad chemical classifications.”
Source: ENN
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