Microbe dietary preferences influence the effectiveness of carbon sequestration in the deep ocean

Microbe dietary preferences influence the effectiveness of carbon sequestration in the deep ocean

The movement of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the surface of the ocean, where it is in active contact with the atmosphere, to the deep ocean, where it can be sequestered away for decades, centuries, or longer, depends on a number of seemingly small processes. A key microscale process in the ocean is the dietary preferences of bacteria that feed on organic molecules called lipids.