The Bacteria That Could Help the World Curb The Climate Crisis

Microbes are truly the ultimate survivors. They’ve perfected unique ways to live in nearly every extreme environment on Earth—from Yellowstone’s hot pools to the volcanic vents of the deep sea.

As humans face the increasingly existential challenges brought on by climate change, many researchers are looking to microbes to unlock new paths forward for the entire planet. If microbes have managed to adapt to some of the most inhospitable habitats, could we leverage their capabilities to solve some of our planet’s most pressing issues? 

With this question in mind, microbiologist Braden Tierney, Ph.D., along with scientists at The Two Frontiers Project and a global team of collaborators, set out on their first expedition to the volcanic island of Vulcano, Sicily in search of carbon-eating microbes living in the extremely high CO₂ environments there. They hypothesized that these extremophiles could help solve our planet’s urgent CO₂ problem.

What they found supported this hypothesis: While in Sicily, they identified never-before-seen photosynthetic cyanobacteria thriving in the underwater volcanic vents off the coast. These bacteria are so efficient at consuming CO₂ that they appear to outperform other leading carbon-capturing organisms (particularly in terms of biomass production).

Here’s how this research, now published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a top scientific journal for microbiology, could help power the future of carbon sequestration and foster a more sustainable future.¹

So, Why Does This Matter? 

For decades, the world has struggled to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Rising atmospheric CO₂ levels are a major concern for life on Earth, fueling unprecedented ocean acidification—which is quickly becoming one of climate change’s “silent killers.”²

By the end of this century, the ocean is expected to be 150% more acidic than it is now (as a result of increased CO₂ absorption), making it one of the greatest threats to global marine life and beyond.³ In fact, the United Nations’ IPCC emphasized the necessity of CO₂ removal in order to make a meaningful impact on climate change.⁴ But we need innovative strategies to make this possible. 

That’s where microbes come in. Utilizing bacteria could help power next-generation technology for carbon sequestration—the process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it.

Harnessing the Power of Microbes for Next-Gen Carbon Capture

While in Sicily, Dr. Tierney and his team dove into the acidic volcanic waters to sample water, sediment, and other sources of microbial life surrounding volcanic CO₂ seeps near Vulcano, a small island off the Sicilian coast.

They then cultured specific carbon-consuming organisms from these samples in a lab environment that favors the growth of microbes with the most voracious appetite for CO₂. Through this work, the researchers isolated the never-before-seen green photosynthetic cyanobacteria, which they named  Cyanobacterium aponinum var vulcano (deposited in the strain bank as UTEX 3222 for the scientific community).

These bacteria grow naturally in the volcanic plumes, where they efficiently use the plentiful CO₂. “They also seem to have adapted to the bubbling, churning environment of the volcanic plumes by becoming denser and sinking more readily—an unusual trait that could prove useful for potentially capturing carbon and sinking it into the deep ocean for sequestration,” said Max Schubert, Ph.D., a Harvard researcher who worked on the project. 

Data also suggests that this strain can be easily grown to high densities and harvested at scale, making it an ideal candidate for photosynthetic bioproduction and marine carbon capture technologies. 

UTEX 3222 is an example of microbial “dark matter”—a microbial species that used to be largely unknown and uncharacterized. It contains a trove of previously unimagined biological mechanisms just waiting to be understood.

“Microbial ‘dark matter’ holds immense potential for understanding and improving the health of our planet,” Dr. Tierney explained. “The discovery of an extremophilic microbe in Yellowstone’s hot springs half a century ago enabled the development of modern PCR testing; with The Two Frontiers Project, we’re taking the same philosophy of microbial exploration and scaling it with next-generation sequencing technologies.”

One Small Step for Microbes

At Seed Health, we believe that unlocking the secrets of this hidden microbial world will allow us to take transformative strides in addressing some of the biggest challenges of today, from climate change and environmental degradation to food insecurity and public health crises.

With the microbiome acting as a critical mediator of interactions between complex ecosystems and the environment, the potential impact of this “dark matter” cannot be overstated.

In addition to Sicily, The Two Frontiers Project team has also gone to Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, islands off the coast of Japan, and other locations in search of novel microbes—and more expeditions are coming soon. 

What’s particularly exciting about this work is that the discoveries don’t end when the researchers are back from their expeditions. As part of this project, Dr. Tierney and team have created a unique open-source “living database” of extreme microbiomes.

The idea is that, once they go out and collect the samples, they come back and sequence them in the lab, and then turn these “living” samples into massive amounts of data. This data enables the researchers to leverage machine learning and advanced sequencing methods as they continue to investigate the biology from their field expeditions long after returning to the lab. 

As Seed’s Scientific Board Member George Church, Ph.D., explained: “Just as we’ve witnessed the tremendous impact of the microbiome on human health, this groundbreaking environmental research will be instrumental in unlocking the microbiome’s potential to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing our planet, from carbon remediation to resource management to ecological preservation. As we delve deeper into the untapped world of microbial life, we uncover transformative solutions that can significantly improve planetary health and pave the way for a more sustainable future.” 

This research was funded in part by Seed Health’s environmental division, SeedLabs. It was jointly led by researchers from the University of Palermo (Dr. Marco Milazzo and Dr. Paola Quatrini), Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, and The Mason Lab. Francesco Italiano, Ph.D. and Alessandro Gattuso, Ph.D. at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology were instrumental in supporting the project—as was the generous community of Vulcano. 

The Key Insight

It’s clear that we have a lot to learn from the tiny, resilient microbes that call extreme environments home. That’s why we continue to investigate our microbial partners, and why we will traverse the planet (and beyond) to learn more about them. By working to understand their biology and harness their unique abilities, we can take one step closer to a more sustainable future. 

Learn more about this new discovery and read the complete paper on UTEX 3222 here.

Explore More From The Two Frontiers Project Here:

• News from SeedLabs—A Volcanic Microbe to Capture Carbon
• Can We Combat Rising CO₂ Levels With Microbes?
• Meet the Microbes of Your Home