Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Marine microbiology

Phosphate availability stabilizes fucoidan produced by marine microalgae

Bacterial degradation of extracellular fucoidan is resource-intensive and, therefore, limited by low-phosphate concentrations. This mechanism provides a competitive advantage to fucoidan-producing microalgae and enhances carbon sequestration.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Phosphate availability regulates fucoidan lability in the ocean through its opposing effects on fucoidan-producing microalgae and fucoidan-degrading bacteria.

References

  1. Boyd, P. W., Claustre, H., Levy, M., Siegel, D. A. & Weber, T. Nature 568, 327–335 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Buesseler, K. O., Boyd, P. W., Black, E. E. & Siegel, D. A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 9679–9687 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Salmeán, A. A., Willats, W. G. T., Ribeiro, S., Andersen, T. J. & Ellegaard, M. Front. Plant Sci. 13, 785902 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Sichert, A. et al. Nat. Microbiol. 5, 1026–1039 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Buck-Wiese, H. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2210561119 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Vidal-Melgosa, S. et al. Nat. Commun. 12, 1150 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Xu, Y. et al. Nat. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02240-z (2026).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Obernosterer, I. & Herndl, G. J. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 116, 247–257 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Christensen, B. B., Haagensen, J. A. J., Heydorn, A. & Molin, S. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68, 2495–2502 (2002).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Cheng, L. et al. Nat. Rev. Earth Environ. 6, 637–655 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin N. Granzow.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Granzow, B.N. Phosphate availability stabilizes fucoidan produced by marine microalgae. Nat Microbiol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02252-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-02252-9

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Microbiology

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Microbiology