Microscale Carbon Cycling Between Bacteria and Algae Under the Sun

Photosynthetic planktonic algae in the aquatic biosphere exert a profound influence on the carbon cycle and will in part determine our planet’s response to climate change. The microbial world surrounding these organisms, also known as their microbiome, have direct cell-to-cell interactions with them and in turn affect small-scale cycling of elements one tiny volume of water at a time. The difficulty of studying the interaction of microorganisms at the single cell scale, as well as the lack of an approach to transfer this information to better understand large-scale biogeochemical processes, has hampered our ability to accurately predict the response of aquatic ecosystems to external factors such as pollution and climate change. In addition, these processes are not well-linked to those in other ecosystems (soil, groundwater, the atmosphere), which would be needed to help predict the global microbial biogeochemical response to our ever-changing climate. A coordinated scientific effort across agencies and beyond borders is now required to tackle this problem, as this is no longer an issue solely for curious academic researchers. Instead, as a national and international security issue, government agencies must increase their involvement in aquatic carbon cycling research to ultimately solve this issue of global importance. Our future depends on it.