CRYST - Inorganic minerals protect glycans from microbial degradation (A05)

• Subject Area: Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms ; Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 542264307

A5 CRYST will investigate the role of inorganic mineral surfaces in preserving glycans from microbial degradation in the marine environment. Our hypothesis is that abiotic factors such as glycan physical adsorption to mineral surfaces and biosynthetic immobilization of glycans in microalgal biominerals play a role in rendering phytoplankton bloom glycans less available to microbial degradation. This project will investigate whether mineral association leads to the incomplete degradation of glycans, contributing to their long-term storage and the ocean’s capacity for carbon sequestration.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 420: Carbon sequestration at Å resolution - CONCENTRATE
• Applicant Institution: Universität Greifswald
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Michael Friedrich; Professor Dr. André Scheffel