Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, Lauren vocal bomb here. The Sahara Desert is a long way from the Caribbean, but that doesn't matter. What happens in Africa doesn't necessarily stay in Africa. Take dust, for instance. The dirt on the ground in North Africa is dry
and the desert is windy. Every summer, dust from the dunes of the world's largest desert pours into the atmosphere over the North Atlantic to see the world's oceans with nutrients that are sorely limited in many marine ecosystems, most notably iron, which is essential to the growth of plants. What happens to that dust after it leaves home can be very good or very bad. It's sort of a crap shoot. Nothing is stationary or permanent or simple on
this wild planet of oars. The major dust related pro the iron that gives Saharan dust its rich red color, feeds the phytoplankton in the Caribbean and along the coast of the southeastern United States, which is important because you want to know a big reason why you're breathing air right now phytoplankton. We spoke with Jason west Rich, a postdoctoral research scientist in the University of George's Department of Microbiology.
He said, for a long time it's been assumed the tropical forests of the world or the primary source of oxygen in the atmosphere, but now it's more appreciated that the production in the ocean acts as a second lung for the planet. Phytoplankton photosynthesis is responsible for half of the oxygen and also a substantial uptake of carbon dioxide
on this planet. Now for the dust related khan In a ten study, a research team led by Westritch found that phytoplankton isn't the only organism in the Caribbean using the magic desert dust bacteria. Notably, twelve different species of pathogenic bacteria from the genus Fibrio use these nutrient infusions to create blooms of their own. Vibrio bacteria are pretty ubiquitous in the world's oceans, but there are freshwater species too.
You've probably of cholera, the disease brought to you by the freshwater Vibrio colare, which infects millions of people worldwide each year, especially in developing countries. A color outbreak after the earthquake in Haiti killed an estimated ten thousand people, and in Yemen, an ongoing cholera epidemic has infected over a million people and killed two thousand and counting. Another fibrio, the flesh eating marine Vibrio vulnificus, is also deadly to humans.
It can gain entry through an abrasion or puncture wound, such as a fish hook, leading to severe infection, especially for immunocompromised individuals. Marine Fibrio species also play a role in many diseases of ocean organisms. You know how you're not supposed to eat shellfish from some places during the summer. That's because there are more Vibrio in the water when it's warmer, and filter feeding shellfish accumulate two species of Vibrio in their meat, which caused the majority of seafood
related sickness and death in the United States. Other Vibrio species are known to be associated with diseased coral that are already facing so many environmental stressors. Vibrio disease and mortality has even placed economic strain on the fishing and shrimp farming industries. West Ritch said, Understanding what drives fluctuation of Vibrio in the environment can help to inform our predictive potential of when to expect increased disease risk in
humans and other marine organisms. For example, we can track sahir and dust by satellite over the typical five day transit across the Atlantic before it arrives in US coastal waters, allowing us to warn a swimmer, scuba diver, or fisherman that there might be a peak and potentially harmful Vibrio in surface water in the Keys. Because Vibrio are one of the most researched marine bacterial genuses, researchers already know
a lot about their biology, ecology, physiology, and genetics. And because they can reproduce so quickly under the right nutrient conditions, one of its species has a population doubling time of just ten minutes. Vibrio make a great adele to probe the lifestyle strategy of an organism capable of quickly blooming when the nutrient circumstances are right. Next Westritch and his colleagues will be working to better understand the role of Vibrio blooms on marine iron availability to see if they're
competing with phytoplankton for that sweet, sweet iron dust. Today's episode was written by Jesselyn Shields and produced by Tyler Clang. If you love our show and want to wear your heart on your sleeve, check out our new store te public dot com slash brain Stuff for shirts and other merchandise, and of course, for more on this and lots of other bloom In topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com