Scientists just discovered this ocean dwelling bacteria that can apparently play an important role in mitigating climate change, which is also one of the most abundant microbes on the planet as well.

These special organisms are classified under the group known as Pelagibacterales, where they are found to be everywhere, about 500,000 microbial cells to be exact, for every teaspoon of water according to University of Exeter's Ben Temperton.

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In this new study, the team studied these microbes since these organisms can help stabilize the planet's atmosphere with a special compound known as dimethylsulfide that can stimulate cloud formation and counter the negative effects of the CLAW hypothesis.

What  goes on inside the CLAW hypothesis is that Earth's atmospheric temperatures are stabilized within a cycle, that causes more phytoplankton to multiply due to sunlight. This in turn increases the production of dimethylsulfoniopropionate. This compound is rapidly broken down by microbes forming dimethylsulfide, icreasing water droplets and cloud formation. 

Cloud droplets are crucial in lowering the planet's temperature, as they reduce the amount of sunlight that gets reflected from the ocean's surface. In this new study, the Pelagibacterales have a pivotal role in improving climate models about how dimethylsulfide directly affects our climate, explains Temperton.

The team believes that this new research shows how the Pelagibacterales play a crucial component in climate stability, that can also provide new information about how this bacteria can produce this important compound. Researchers also say that this study also marks the first time that Pelagibacterales are involved in an important biogeochemical process by generating dimethylsulfide and apparently, this is not the only bacteria that can produce this enzyme, where this enzyme is also hugely abundant in other marine bacterial species.

This new study is published in the journal Nature Microbiology. 

TagsClimate Change, global warming, ocean bacteria, ocean micro organisms, earth atmosphere, Microbiology