A Journey Through Invisible Ecosystems: PSU Researcher Unravels Mysteries of Marine Life

Why are the smallest organisms within the ocean a few of the strongest forces in nature? Human society, and certainly most life on Earth, depends on microscopic marine life types for the air we breathe, the abundance of marine life, and the cycles of vitamins and vitality that make the Earth life sustaining. Portland State University (PSU) analysis is illuminating who these tiny beings are, what they’re like, and what secrets and techniques they might maintain to the way forward for our planet.

Anne Thompson is an assistant professor of biology at PSU. She researches phytoplankton and their interactions with different microorganisms.

“Phytoplankton are the foundation that lets us derive nourishment from the sea, and they produce some of the oxygen we breathe. So they’re really important. The group of phytoplankton that my lab studies are really tiny cells—they’re called picocyanobacteria,” Thompson stated.

These cells are essentially the most ample photosynthetic cells on the planet.

Thompson is the top of a laboratory known as Microbial Ecology PDX, the place she leads a analysis program aimed toward investigating the roles microorganisms play in nutrient biking, symbiosis, and ecosystem resilience – and is dedicated to coaching college students, lecturers, and the general public within the surprise and energy of microbial life within the oceans

From the open ocean to the Microbial Ecology lab

The Microbial Ecology Lab contributes crucial insights to our fundamental understanding of life, which may result in long-term purposes in environmental stewardship, local weather resilience, and biotechnological innovation.

A Precursor to Plant Life

Cyanobacteria, a subset of the bigger group of phytoplankton, are a various lineage of organisms. Often known as blue-green algae, some types of cyanobacteria are poisonous—like those answerable for heat-driven cyanobacterial blooms which are a security concern for people and pets in Portland, and all through Oregon, throughout summer season and early fall. The picocyanobacteria studied in Thompson’s lab are usually not recognized to be poisonous, however are of nice curiosity to researchers.

“The lineage as a whole is incredible, because it’s been around on Earth for billions of years—these are the cells that invented the production of oxygen through photosynthesis,” Thompson stated. “They will be here long after we’re gone, too.”

The motive for his or her resilience and longevity? They do not depend upon different life in the identical manner we do. Instead, they derive vitality from daylight and carbon dioxide. From this they create oxygen, some can repair nitrogen, and in doing in order that they assist complete meals chains.

Predator-Prey Relationships

“The thing we’re working on now is figuring out who eats these cells. We know that they are killed by viruses. And we know that they’re eaten by single-celled organisms called protists. But we don’t know what those exact interactions are,” Thompson stated.

Are the picocyanobacteria passive prey, helpless in opposition to the strategy of a hungry protist? Or do they actively attempt to evade predators? What protection mechanisms, if any, would possibly they’ve? And a vital query: What occurs to them after they have been eaten? Where does that natural materials find yourself?

That final query is vital to our understanding of local weather science. The stage of carbon within the environment is a key issue influencing Earth’s local weather, and the picocyanobacteria take carbon dioxide from the environment. Once they’re killed, does the carbon contained of their our bodies get launched again into the environment, or does it sink to the underside of the ocean and get buried?

Knowing extra about their predators may reply this. If they get engulfed by a bigger microorganism with a giant fecal pellet that sinks quick, then the carbon from the phytoplankton seemingly will get exported—sequestered to the underside of the ocean. If they get eaten by one thing smaller, which does what known as sloppy feeding—taking small bites and mainly making a multitude—then the dissolved natural materials will get recycled into the ocean, the place it will probably simply be handed again to the environment.

“If we can answer some of these questions, we hope that we’ll understand phytoplankton better, and then we’ll be able to better predict how phytoplankton can support important economies, important ecosystems, and really, the habitability of the earth,” Thompson stated.

Lifelong Learning

In Thompson’s lab, there’s a gentle incubator set to a dawn/sundown cycle. Inside of it, an enormous inhabitants of phytoplankton stay, reproduce, and die. Outside of it, a gaggle of individuals in any respect levels of their scientific careers study from the phytoplankton and one another – coaching the general public, college students, and lecturers is a vital side of Thompson’s lab mission.

Working with lecturers is one specific space of focus for Thompson. Through the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Partners in Science program, Thompson has hosted a number of STEM highschool lecturers within the lab the place they developed their very own undertaking on phytoplankton within the open ocean and response to plastics. This formative collaboration supported by the Trust led Thompson to hunt extra alternatives to assist trainer schooling. Through NSF funding, Thompson and collaborators Claudia Ludwig and Nitin Baliga labored with eight highschool STEM lecturers, over the course of three summers, to translate analysis on picocyanobacteria into the highschool curriculum. The module they created – known as “Our Invisible Forest: What’s in a Drop of Seawater”, engages college students in ocean science, chemistry, physics and biology – throughout the concept that the ocean is teeming with microbial life.

“In addition to my work with teachers, I have a steady flow of PSU students through my lab. Currently, I have one graduate research assistant—a masters student,” Thompson stated. “And then this summer I have added an undergraduate student as well, and that’s fantastic. Then I have a high school student in the lab, too. And I also have a postdoc and a research adjunct faculty member. So I have a huge range of career levels in the lab right now.” This multi-level setting advantages everybody concerned—early-career college students achieve publicity to superior analysis, whereas extra skilled researchers sharpen their mentorship abilities.

Given the urgency of our local weather disaster, this is a vital second for studying extra about a few of earth’s key gamers. Picocyanobacteria love the nice and cozy, nutrient-poor open ocean. Those areas of the planet are increasing now, and can proceed to increase within the years to come back. As the ocean continues to vary, it’s seemingly that the picocyanobacteria will thrive. Other forms of phytoplankton might not be so fortunate—some stay in cooler waters and want extra vitamins. Many are vital to coastal fisheries and human meals sources. So people have a lot to achieve from having a greater understanding of those tiny life types and their ecological interactions.

“It’s a value to our society to understand how life works. And these incredible cells are simple. They live and die. They’ve been doing it for millions of years – and their ancestors have been doing so for billions of years! And if we can understand the secrets of how they live and persist in changing conditions, we can learn more about life itself, which has untold and immeasurable value to humans,” Thompson stated.

Research with public influence is one among PSU’s high priorities. Annie Lindgren, PSU’s Associate Vice President of Research, works to advance PSU’s interdisciplinary analysis initiatives and construct partnerships with business and different neighborhood stakeholders.

“Dr. Thompson’s track record of funding tells a powerful story of impact in terms of both research and education. Anne recently received an Early Career Simons Foundation Award, which is a testament to her standing among the world’s most promising researchers. But it’s the early opportunities provided by M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and successive grants from the National Science Foundation, that truly underscore her ability to build a research program that consistently shapes new directions in microbial ecology and provides educational opportunities to learners of all ages. This has an impact far beyond the lab, and it’s why so many increasingly look to her for insight and innovation,” Lindgren stated.