Microbes of Marine Environments: Topics of Interest


The Case Studies and Special Collections listed on this page represent the Marine subset of Microbial Life's Topics of Interest collection. They contain resources - general (such as news articles, web sites, and reference pages), advanced (journal articles, academic reviews, and surveys), and educational (such as activities, assignments and reading lists) - that support teaching and learning about microbial life in marine environments. They can be used in a variety of class activities, including lectures, demonstrations, discussions, and student projects.

Case Studies

Satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone
Satellite image of the northern Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi Delta showing hypoxic coastal water (light blue). This color change is due to excessive nutrients being washed into the sea. Source: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC, January 2003.
The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone: The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is an area of hypoxic waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River. High nutrient load from farm and industry runoff along the Mississippi River stimulates algal blooms, which eventually deplete dissolved oxygen in the water.



Dramatic photo showing a red algal bloom at Leigh, near Cape Rodney
Red algal bloom at Leigh, near Cape Rodney, New Zealand. Photo by Miriam Godfrey. This photo can be found at the NIWA Science web site.
Red Tide: Red Tide is a phenomenon caused by algal blooms along coastal areas. These blooms generally discolor the waters and may cause significant problems for local biota by depleting oxgen and/or releasing toxins.


Pompeii Worm
Pompeii worm (Alvinella pompejana), head at bottom left. Photo credit: University of Delaware


Pompeii Worm: The Pompeii worm is a deep-sea polychaete that resides in tubes near hydrothermal vents. It is able to survive extreme temperatures by forming a symbiotic relationship with the protective "fleece-like" bacteria on its back.





An adult Euprymna scolopes, a species of bioluminescent sepiolid squid
Squid - Vibrio: The Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, houses a colony of luminous Vibrio fischeri in its specialized light organ to serve as anti-predatory defense. The light produced by the symbiotic bacteria is emitted downward, and the squid can manipulate the intensity of the light to match the intensity of down-welling moon and starlight, thus masking its silhouette to evade bottom-dwelling predators.




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