ArticleNature communications2023
Strong chemotaxis by marine bacteria towards polysaccharides is enhanced by the abundant organosulfur compound DMSP.
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multi-omics and cultivation reveal laminarin-degrading PVC bacteria in the deep sea.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Review
- The coccosphere of the heavy calcifying coccolithophore Coccolithus braarudii provides defense against bacteria.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Dimethylsulfoniopropionate metabolism shapes microbial ecology and physiological adaptation during the austral winter in Southern Ocean sea ice and seawater.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Repulsion from slow-diffusing nutrients improves microbial chemotaxis towards moving sources.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Molecular Mechanisms of Algicidal Bacteria in Controlling Harmful Algal Blooms: Advances in Bacteria-Algae Interactions.Environmental microbiology reports · 2026Review
- A 3D-printed capillary tube holder for high-throughput chemotaxis assays.Journal of bacteriology · 2026Article
- Polysaccharide Utilization and Adhesion Enable the Genome-StreamlinedMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Bacteria induce an amoeboid phase in coccolithophores that persists after bloom collapse.Science advances · 2025Article
- Chemoreceptor family in plant-associated bacteria responds preferentially to the plant signal molecule glycerol 3-phosphate.Genome biology · 2025Article
- DmdA-independent lag phase shortening in Phaeobacter inhibens bacteria under stress conditions.The FEBS journal · 2025Article
- Risk-reward trade-off during carbon starvation generates dichotomy in motility endurance among marine bacteria.Nature microbiology · 2025Article
- An atlas of metabolites driving chemotaxis in prokaryotes.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Slower swimming promotes chemotactic encounters between bacteria and small phytoplankton.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Invasive macroalgae shape chemical and microbial waterscapes on coral reefs.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Chemotaxis, growth, and inter-species interactions shape early bacterial community assembly.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Two-step localization driven by peptidoglycan hydrolase in interbacterial predation.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Bacterial amino acid chemotaxis: a widespread strategy with multiple physiological and ecological roles.Journal of bacteriology · 2024Review
- Article
- Multiplexed Microfluidic Platform for Parallel Bacterial Chemotaxis Assays.Bio-protocol · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The ability of marine bacteria to direct their movement in response to chemical gradients influences inter-species interactions, nutrient turnover, and ecosystem productivity. While many bacteria are chemotactic towards small metabolites, marine organic matter is predominantly composed of large molecules and polymers. Yet, the signalling role of these large molecules is largely unknown. Using in situ and laboratory-based chemotaxis assays, we show that marine bacteria are strongly attracted to the abundant algal polysaccharides laminarin and alginate. Unexpectedly, these polysaccharides elicited stronger chemoattraction than their oligo- and monosaccharide constituents. Furthermore, chemotaxis towards laminarin was strongly enhanced by dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), another ubiquitous algal-derived metabolite. Our results indicate that DMSP acts as a methyl donor for marine bacteria, increasing their gradient detection capacity and facilitating their access to polysaccharide patches. We demonstrate that marine bacteria are capable of strong chemotaxis towards large soluble polysaccharides and uncover a new ecological role for DMSP in enhancing this attraction. These navigation behaviours may contribute to the rapid turnover of polymers in the ocean, with important consequences for marine carbon cycling.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.