{"id":322455,"date":"2026-03-10T12:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/322455\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:56:10","slug":"new-study-finds-deep-ocean-microbes-already-prepared-to-tackle-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/322455\/","title":{"rendered":"New study finds deep ocean microbes already prepared to tackle climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Nitrosopumilus<\/p>\n

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image:\u00a0<\/p>\n

A research group co-led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign predicts that a surprisingly adaptable species of marine archaea will play an important role in reshaping biodiversity in the planet\u2019s oceans as the climate changes.<\/p>\n

view more\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit: Photo by Fred Zwicky<\/p>\n

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. \u2014 Deep-sea waters are warming due to heat waves and climate change, and it could spell trouble for the oceans\u2019 delicate chemical and biological balance. A new study, however, demonstrates that the microbe Nitrosopumilus maritimus may already be adapting well to warmer, nutrient-poor waters. Researchers predict that these surprisingly adaptable iron-dependent ammonia-oxidizing archaea will play an important role in reshaping ocean-nutrient distribution in a changing climate.<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n

Nitrosopumilus maritimus and its kin account for approximately 30% of the marine microbial plankton population, and many researchers agree that the oceans depend on these microbes to drive the chemical reactions that support marine life. The ammonia-oxidizing activity of archaea makes them key players in the oceans\u2019 nutrient cycling. By altering the forms of nitrogen available in seawater, they control the growth of microbial plankton \u2014 the base of the marine food chain \u2014 and help sustain marine biodiversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cOcean-warming effects may extend to depths of 1,000 meters or more,\u201d said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign microbiology<\/a> professor Wei Qin<\/a>. \u201cWe used to think that deeper waters were mostly insulated from surface warming, but now it is becoming clear that deep-sea warming can change how these abundant archaea use iron \u2014 a metal they depend on heavily \u2014 potentially affecting trace metal availability in the deep ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study, led by Qin and University of Southern California global change biology professor David Hutchins, used controlled, trace-metal-clean experiments to expose a pure culture of Nitrosopumilus maritimus to a variety of temperatures and iron concentrations. They observed that increasing the temperature under iron-limited conditions reduced the microbes\u2019 iron requirements and increased physiological iron-use efficiency, demonstrating that the microbes acclimate well to the stress of higher temperatures and decreased iron availability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe coupled these findings with global ocean biogeochemical modeling by Alessandro Tagliabue from the University of Liverpool,\u201d Qin said. \u201cThe results suggest that deep-ocean archaeal communities may maintain or even enhance their role in nitrogen cycling and primary production support across vast iron-limited regions in a warming climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

This summer, Qin and Hutchins will serve as co-chief scientists aboard the research vessel Sikuliaq for a research expedition from Seattle to the Gulf of Alaska and then down to the subtropical gyre, stopping in Honolulu, Hawaii. Joining Qin will be 20 other researchers whose aim will be to validate the new experimental findings in a real-world setting and focus on the interactive effects of temperature and metal limitation on natural archaeal populations.<\/p>\n

Qin is also affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The National Science Foundation, Simons Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Oklahoma supported this research.<\/p>\n

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Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To reach Wei Qin, email\u00a0weiqin@illinois.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The paper \u201cOcean warming enhances iron use efficiencies of marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea\u201d is available online<\/a>. DOI: 10.1073\/pnas.2531032123<\/a><\/p>\n

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Journal<\/p>\n

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/p>\n

Method of Research<\/p>\n

Experimental study<\/p>\n

Subject of Research<\/p>\n

Cells<\/p>\n

Article Title<\/p>\n

Ocean warming enhances iron use efficiencies of marine ammonia-oxidizing archaea<\/p>\n

Article Publication Date<\/p>\n

2-Mar-2026<\/p>\n

COI Statement<\/p>\n

The authors declare no competing interest.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"image:\u00a0 A research group co-led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign predicts that a surprisingly adaptable species of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-322455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}