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New research from Harvard University<\/a> suggests oysters may not be working alone. Scientists have found evidence that tiny microbes living inside the oyster could help create the conditions needed for shell formation.<\/p>\n The discovery hints at a quiet partnership that may help oysters survive in oceans that are becoming more acidic.<\/p>\n The chemistry behind a shell<\/p>\n Oysters live in coastal waters<\/a> where conditions change constantly. Tides shift, temperature moves up and down, and acidity can vary throughout the day. Despite all this, oysters manage to keep the chemistry inside their bodies stable.<\/p>\n That stability matters because shell formation depends on it. Calcium carbonate forms only under the right chemical conditions. If the environment inside the oyster becomes too acidic, shell<\/a> growth becomes more difficult and requires more energy.<\/p>\n Researchers already knew oysters could regulate their internal pH to keep things steady. The animals have the genetic tools needed to maintain that balance even when surrounding seawater becomes more acidic.<\/p>\n Looking closer at oyster microbes<\/p>\n Andrea Unzueta Martinez is\u00a0a postdoctoral fellow in the\u00a0Girguis Lab for Ecophysiology, Biogeochemistry, and Engineering<\/a> at Harvard.<\/p>\n After studying oysters during her doctoral work, Unzueta Martinez began asking a new question: Oysters host communities of microbes<\/a>, but what role do those microbes play?<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to start taking a look at what the microbes were doing for the animal host in terms of chemistry regulation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Unzueta Martinez focused on a small pocket of fluid located between the oyster\u2019s soft body and its shell. This space is sealed off from the surrounding seawater.<\/p>\n \u201cThis fluid is completely closed off from the environment so that there\u2019s no way that a random seawater microbe<\/a> could just float its way in there,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have no idea how these microbes got in there in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n A hidden microbial partner<\/p>\n To study the microbes inside that sealed space, Unzueta Martinez built a small sampling system that worked like a catheter. <\/p>\n The device created a watertight port that allowed her to collect fluid samples without exposing the pocket to outside seawater. She then examined both the oyster and the microbes living in the fluid. <\/p>\n The results showed something surprising. Genes in the oyster and the microbes were activating at the same time.<\/p>\n Even more striking, the microbes were switching on genes linked to calcium carbonate formation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe microbes were expressing genes that are known to help precipitate calcium carbonate,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd calcium carbonate<\/a> is the material that the shell is made out of.\u201d<\/p>\n That discovery raised an obvious question. Could the microbes be helping the oyster build its shell?<\/p>\n Signals between host and microbes<\/p>\n The study uncovered another interesting pattern. When the microbes became active, the oyster began expressing genes connected to its neuroimmune system. <\/p>\n This system normally detects foreign invaders like bacteria. But in some animals, that same system can also help manage beneficial microbes through chemical signals.<\/p>\n Unzueta Martinez found the interaction puzzling and exciting at the same time.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s going on? Are they coordinating? Can the host somehow communicate with its microbiome via the neuroimmune system to coordinate in regulating chemistry?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt raises more questions than answers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n A broader pattern in nature<\/p>\n The research took place in the lab of Peter R. Girguis, professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and co-director of the Harvard Microbial Sciences Initiative. <\/p>\n Girguis noted that the findings fit into a growing body of evidence that animals often rely on microbes to help run basic biological processes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe often think of animals as doing all the heavy lifting on their own, and sometimes that may be true,\u201d he said. \u201cBut more often than not, when we look somewhere, we find microbes playing some role in an animal process.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a reminder that all of us as animals live in this microbial world.\u201d<\/p>\n That help might save oysters energy. Instead of doing all the chemical work needed to build shells, they may share part of the job with microbes that live safely inside their bodies.<\/p>\n Why this matters in a changing ocean<\/p>\n Ocean waters are gradually becoming more acidic as carbon dioxide levels rise. That shift makes it harder for shell-building animals like oysters, clams, and mussels<\/a> to produce calcium carbonate.<\/p>\n \u201cAs ocean pH gets lower, it costs an animal more energy,\u201d explained Girguis.<\/p>\n If microbes help maintain the right chemical environment for shell growth, that partnership could make a real difference. The microbes gain a protected place to live, while the oyster receives chemical assistance.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if that can be shared even just a tiny bit by microbes that are helping make the conditions favorable for shell growth and the microbes benefit by having a place to live where they\u2019re not preyed upon, then that\u2019s the start of a really good relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking toward extreme environments<\/p>\n Unzueta Martinez hopes to continue exploring this type of relationship in other marine animals. Her next targets include deep-sea bivalves such as Bathymodiolus mussels and Calyptogena clams.<\/p>\n These animals live near hydrothermal vents, some of the harshest environments on Earth. Despite extreme temperatures and chemical conditions, they thrive.<\/p>\n \u201cThese animals are thriving and they also have microbiomes,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a great opportunity to take a look at this trifecta of the host and the microbiome and environmental chemistry regulation across different environments.\u201d<\/p>\n Understanding how these partnerships work could reveal new clues about how marine life survives in difficult conditions.<\/p>\n Lessons beyond oysters<\/p>\n The study also touches on a bigger idea about life on Earth. Humans often associate microbes with disease, but most microbes living in and around animals provide benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the overwhelming majority of microbes that play a role in human life confer advantages to us,\u201d Girguis said.<\/p>\n Scientists already know microbes help humans digest food and maintain gut health. The oyster study adds another example of how animals may rely on microscopic partners to handle complex chemistry.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can start to disentangle the ways that a simple oyster, which has a much simpler immune language, is \u2018talking\u2019 to the microbes, we can better understand the oysters\u2019 resilience,\u201d said Girguis.<\/p>\n For oysters facing an increasingly acidic ocean, that quiet conversation with microbes may be one reason they endure.<\/p>\n The full study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oysters sit quietly on the ocean floor, filtering water and building thick shells that protect them from predators…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-538915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}