Two species of marine bacteria from the North Sea have established an unusual and sometimes destructive relationship to produce the important vitamin B12.
Two species of marine bacteria from the North Sea have established an unusual and sometimes destructive relationship to produce the important vitamin B12. This is reported by researchers from Oldenburg, Germany, and San Diego, US, in the journal Nature. The team's experiments show that the two microbial species have developed a coordinated strategy to obtain the scarce but essential vitamin.
A German-American research team led by microbiologist Dr Gerrit Wienhausen from the University of Oldenburg (Germany) has come an important step closer to a better understanding of highly complex interactions between marine microorganisms. The researchers conducted various experiments to analyse the interaction between two species of marine bacteria from the North Sea in the synthesis of vitamin B12, and have now published their findings in the scientific journal Nature.
Vitamin B12 is a vital but scarce commodity in the sea (and elsewhere). It is essential not only for the metabolism of the two bacteria investigated in this study, but for many other marine organisms. “Half of all algal species cannot survive without this vitamin,” Wienhausen explains. Yet like humans, algae cannot produce B12 themselves. So the researchers from the University of Oldenburg and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego (USA) were eager to take a closer look at B12 synthesis in marine bacteria.
Read more at University of Oldenburg
