Chapter 13
Microscale Carbon Cycling Between
Bacteria and Algae Under the Sun
Xavier Mayali
Abstract Photosynthetic planktonic algae in the aquatic biosphere exert a profound
influence on the carbon cycle and will in part determine our planet’s response to
climate change. The microbial world surrounding these organisms, also known as
their microbiome, have direct cell-to-cell interactions with them and in turn affect
small-scale cycling of elements one tiny volume of water at a time. The difficulty of
studying the interaction of microorganisms at the single cell scale, as well as the lack
of an approach to transfer this information to better understand large-scale biogeochemical processes, has hampered our ability to accurately predict the response of
aquatic ecosystems to external factors such as pollution and climate change. In
addition, these processes are not well-linked to those in other ecosystems (soil,
groundwater, the atmosphere), which would be needed to help predict the global
microbial biogeochemical response to our ever-changing climate. A coordinated
scientific effort across agencies and beyond borders is now required to tackle this
problem, as this is no longer an issue solely for curious academic researchers.
Instead, as a national and international security issue, government agencies must
increase their involvement in aquatic carbon cycling research to ultimately solve this
issue of global importance. Our future depends on it.
13.1 History of Research on Aquatic Algae and Bacteria
Seventy percent of our earth is covered by water, most of it salty, such as oceans and
seas. This has been the case for billions of years, and it is believed that life evolved in
shallow seas. Most of early life was anaerobic: there was no oxygen, neither in the
oceans nor in the atmosphere (Fenchel and Finlay 1994). This changed with the
advent of oxygenic photosynthesis which first arose in cyanobacteria (formerly
known as blue-green algae). These were (and still are) bacteria, and along with
eukaryotic algae that evolved later, still dominate photosynthesis on today’s earth
X. Mayali (*)
Physical and Life Sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
e-mail: mayali1@llnl.gov
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. J. Hurst (ed.), Microbes: The Foundation Stone of the Biosphere, Advances in
Environmental Microbiology 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63512-1_13
205
Microscale Carbon Cycling Between
Bacteria and Algae Under the Sun
Xavier Mayali
Abstract Photosynthetic planktonic algae in the aquatic biosphere exert a profound
influence on the carbon cycle and will in part determine our planet’s response to
climate change. The microbial world surrounding these organisms, also known as
their microbiome, have direct cell-to-cell interactions with them and in turn affect
small-scale cycling of elements one tiny volume of water at a time. The difficulty of
studying the interaction of microorganisms at the single cell scale, as well as the lack
of an approach to transfer this information to better understand large-scale biogeochemical processes, has hampered our ability to accurately predict the response of
aquatic ecosystems to external factors such as pollution and climate change. In
addition, these processes are not well-linked to those in other ecosystems (soil,
groundwater, the atmosphere), which would be needed to help predict the global
microbial biogeochemical response to our ever-changing climate. A coordinated
scientific effort across agencies and beyond borders is now required to tackle this
problem, as this is no longer an issue solely for curious academic researchers.
Instead, as a national and international security issue, government agencies must
increase their involvement in aquatic carbon cycling research to ultimately solve this
issue of global importance. Our future depends on it.
13.1 History of Research on Aquatic Algae and Bacteria
Seventy percent of our earth is covered by water, most of it salty, such as oceans and
seas. This has been the case for billions of years, and it is believed that life evolved in
shallow seas. Most of early life was anaerobic: there was no oxygen, neither in the
oceans nor in the atmosphere (Fenchel and Finlay 1994). This changed with the
advent of oxygenic photosynthesis which first arose in cyanobacteria (formerly
known as blue-green algae). These were (and still are) bacteria, and along with
eukaryotic algae that evolved later, still dominate photosynthesis on today’s earth
X. Mayali (*)
Physical and Life Sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
e-mail: mayali1@llnl.gov
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
C. J. Hurst (ed.), Microbes: The Foundation Stone of the Biosphere, Advances in
Environmental Microbiology 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63512-1_13
205