In a Groundbreaking Move, Scientists Revive Algae That Was Dormant for 7,000 Years on the Baltic Sea Floor
Biotechnology has enjoyed a huge boom in the last few decades. With the use of technology, researchers have achieved many remarkable findings. Recently, experts announced an achievement associated with a microscopic alga in the Baltic Sea that astounded biotech luminaries, stated LBV. Findings regarding this achievement have been published in The ISME Journal.
Experts from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde (IOW) have managed to revive a microscopic alga that had been lying dormant on the seafloor for nearly 7,000 years. Despite the algae being without light or any possible metabolic activity for several millennia, researchers claim that their processes facilitated viability in the organism's diatoms. In 2021, a research vessel named Elisabeth Mann Borgese returned with certain sediment cores from the Baltic Sea. These cores were buried 240 meters deep into the seabed of the eastern Gotland Basin.
Researchers provided the required light and nutrients to the algae detected in nine sediment samples from the collection of cores and facilitated the resurrection. Experts think that these algae deactivated themselves when they were faced with unfavorable conditions. A pattern that is noted in many species. The quantity of light and choice of nutrients were decided based on the acquired knowledge of the conditions in which these organisms thrive.
Analysis unveiled that all the algae dated within the last 7,000 years and reflected different climatic phases that the Baltic Sea has undergone. Further examination indicated that the only phytoplankton species that experienced revival was Skeletonema marinoi. Researchers further noted that the phytoplankton not only were reactivated but also garnered the biological capacity to grow, divide, and perform photosynthesis.
Cultivation exercises were done on these phytoplankton, and the results indicated that the diatoms had a division rate of 0.31 mitoses per day. This is more or less the same rate as the modern population of Skeletonema marinoi. The resurrected samples produced 184 micromoles of oxygen every hour using one milligram of chlorophyll. This estimate was also similar to their modern counterparts. Genetic analysis was conducted using microsatellite techniques and found that over the centuries, the phytoplankton had experienced genetic changes. Samples from different layers had distinct genetic features. This implied that as time moved on, phytoplankton experienced evolution.
Samples from each layer formed a distinct group. This indicates that there was no cross-contamination between the different layers. The study showcased that development in beings can be analyzed by living cells as well and is not solely dependent on fossilized material. This is the first time the resurrection phenomenon has been noted in aquatic sediments. "Achieving the reactivation of these algae represents a key advance for the development of ‘resurrection ecology’ in the Baltic Sea. We can now conduct laboratory experiments to explore different periods of its ecological history," Sarah Bolius, a researcher at IOW and lead author of the study, shared. Researchers are now gearing towards analyzing these resurrected samples under different climatic conditions to understand how these beings reacted in the face of significant climate changes.