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Marine Infochemicals

In a recent study, WHOI scientists found that single-celled marine phytoplankton like these Melosira sp. can release “infochemicals” that signal marine bacteria to rev up their metabolisms and decompose phytoplankton faster. That rapidly converts organic carbon from phytoplankton back into carbon dioxide—before carbon-rich particles from decomposed phytoplankton can sink to the deep ocean. So instead of being sequestered in the deep, the carbon remains in shallow waters and is recirculated back to the atmosphere in the form of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student Bethanie Edwards and her Ph.D. advisor Ben Van Mooy conducted the study.(Photo by Dawn Moran, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)