For­schungs­pro­jek­te

Or­ga­no­sul­fur cy­cling in che­mo­syn­the­tic sym­bio­ses

Che­mo­syn­the­tic sym­bio­ses, whe­re che­mo­syn­the­tic bac­te­ria pro­vi­de es­sen­ti­al nut­ri­ti­on to their eu­ka­ryo­tic hosts, are re­mar­ka­b­ly di­ver­se and are com­mon­ly found in nut­ri­ent-li­mi­ted en­vi­ron­ments like se­agrass mea­dows, co­ral reefs, and man­gro­ves. The­se en­vi­ron­ments, whi­le see­mingly re­sour­ce-sc­ar­ce, are rich in or­ga­no­sul­fur com­pounds such as di­me­thyl­sul­fo­nio­pro­pio­na­te (DMSP) and di­me­thyl­sul­fi­de (DMS). The si­gni­fi­can­ce of the­se or­ga­no­sul­fur com­pounds for oce­an bio­lo­gy and eco­lo­gy has only re­cent­ly been re­co­gni­zed.

It is now wi­de­ly ack­now­led­ged that or­ga­no­sul­fur com­pounds play a pi­vo­tal role in va­rious bio­geo­che­mi­cal cy­cles. They ser­ve as cri­ti­cal sour­ces of sul­fur, car­bon, and en­er­gy for ma­ri­ne mi­cro­or­ga­nisms and have far-re­aching ef­fects on the Ear­t­h’s cli­ma­te. De­s­pi­te this re­co­gni­ti­on, our un­der­stan­ding of how or­ga­no­sul­fur com­pounds are pro­du­ced, con­su­med, and cy­cled re­mains li­mi­ted.

In light of the fact that nut­ri­ti­on is of­ten a li­mit­ing fac­tor in the ha­bi­tats whe­re che­mo­syn­the­tic sym­bio­ses thri­ve, the uti­liza­t­i­on of or­ga­no­sul­fur com­pounds emer­ges as a va­luable sour­ce of en­er­gy and car­bon for the­se part­nerships. Our re­se­arch en­dea­vors to as­sess and de­mons­tra­te the im­port­an­ce of or­ga­no­sul­fur com­pounds in sustai­ning the nut­ri­tio­nal nee­ds of che­mo­syn­the­tic sym­bio­ses. Through our work, we aim to shed light on the in­tri­ca­te in­ter­ac­tions and de­pen­den­cies wi­t­hin the­se eco­sys­tems, cont­ri­bu­ting to a de­eper un­der­stan­ding of their func­tio­n­ing and eco­lo­gi­cal si­gni­fi­can­ce.