What are the metabolic processes in marine microorganisms?

Marine microorganisms utilize diverse metabolic strategies to obtain the energy and nutrients necessary for survival, growth, and reproduction. These biochemical pathways allow them to drive global biogeochemical cycles, recycle vital elements like carbon and nitrogen, and form the foundation of marine food webs. In extreme environments such as hydrothermal vents, chemolithoautotrophic bacteria rely on chemosynthesis rather than sunlight to fix carbon.

What we know

• Microbial metabolism encompasses the biochemical pathways used by microbes to satisfy energy needs and assimilate nutrients like carbon. [1, 2]
• Marine microorganisms are responsible for nearly all photosynthesis occurring in the ocean and produce much of the world's oxygen. [3]
• Chemolithoautotrophic bacteria at hydrothermal vents derive energy and nutrients from geological activity to fix carbon through chemosynthesis. [4]
• Marine microorganisms participate in the global cycling of almost all chemical elements and act as decomposers to recycle nutrients. [3]

Still open

• Microbiologists disagree on whether viruses should be classified as living microorganisms or non-living entities.

Where to go next

• how it workedHow do hydrothermal vent communities survive without sunlight?
• what followedWhat role do marine microorganisms play in global biogeochemical cycles?
• the bigger pictureWhat is microbial metabolism?
• a case in pointHow does marine snow export energy to the deep ocean?
• compared withHow are marine microorganisms defined by their habitat?
• an unexpected connectionHow do deep-sea hydrothermal vents connect to the last universal common ancestor?Scientists have identified genes from the last universal common ancestor among marine microorganisms that inhabit extreme environments like hydrothermal vents.

Sources

• [1]microbial metabolism (Wikidata Q4889568) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Microbial metabolism · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Marine microorganisms · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Hydrothermal vent microbial communities · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Marine snow · CC BY-SA 4.0