by Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde
Fully active again even after around 7,000 years without light and oxygen in the Baltic Sea sediment: the diatom Skeletonema marinoi. A research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) was able to revive dormant stages of algae that sank to the bottom of the Baltic Sea almost 7,000 years ago. Despite thousands of years of inactivity in the sediment without light and oxygen, the investigated diatom species regained full viability.
Many organisms, from bacteria to mammals, can go into a kind of “sleep mode,” known as dormancy, in order to survive periods of unfavorable environmental conditions.
For more information read the study, published in The ISME Journal
