DIATOMS MICROBIOTA SULFATED MANNAN

Jun 07 2026SCIENCE

Sunlight‑Driven Microbe Matchmaking by Diatom Sugar

Diatoms, the tiny plankton that sparkle in sunny seas, use a special sugar coating to pick their bacterial partners. This sugar, called sulfated mannan, hangs on the diatom surface like a selective handshake. Only certain bacteria that can read this chemical signal will stick around. Researchers di

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