The large concentration of plants and algae in marine coastal environments provides ample habitat and reliable resources

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the abstract and future-work section and stated challenges and stated research gap of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 2024 and 2026, spanning 3 journals. Those papers have been cited 67 times in total.

Supporting evidence — 6 representative gaps

• Novel, active, and uncultured hydrocarbon-degrading microbes in the ocean (2024) · Applied and Environmental Microbiology · cited 15× · doi

  Analyses of newly assembled metagenomic data and previously existing genomes from other marine data sets, with metagenomic and metatranscriptomic read recruitment, revealed globally distributed hydrocarbon-degrading marine microbes with clade-specific substrate degradation potentials that have not been previously reported.

  generalabstractevidence 5/5
  Keywords: metagenomic previously marine analyses newly assembled existing genomes sets metatranscriptomic read recruitment revealed globally distributed
• Ammonification by kelp associated microbes increases ammonium availability (2024) · PLoS ONE · cited 13× · doi

  further study on the role of microbes in nitrogen acquisition for macrophytes, - investigation of the implications of microbial presence or absence on host fitness, - research on the effects of different microbial communities on nitrogen content in macrophytes

  generalfuture-work sectionevidence 5/5
  Keywords: further study role microbes nitrogen acquisition macrophytes investigation
• Ammonification by kelp associated microbes increases ammonium availability (2024) · PLoS ONE · cited 13× · doi

  The study identifies the challenge of understanding the complex interactions between microbes and their hosts in host-microbe nitrogen cycling. The research highlights the difficulty of quantifying the conversion of dissolved organic nitrogen to ammonium. The use of metagenomic analysis and stable isotope tracers poses technical challenges, such as the need for higher concentrations of 15NH4 in seawater than were typical at the sites.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: study identifies challenge understanding complex interactions between microbes
• Long-term nitrogen burial exceeds denitrification in global fjords (2026) · Nature Communications · doi

  The importance of sediment burial as a nitrogen loss mechanism in fjords has been overlooked. Prior work has focused on microbial nitrogen loss mechanisms, but the role of sediment burial remains poorly understood. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap by quantifying nitrogen burial in global fjords.

  generalstated research gapevidence 4/5
  Keywords: importance sediment burial nitrogen loss mechanism fjords has
• Ammonification by kelp associated microbes increases ammonium availability (2024) · PLoS ONE · cited 13× · doi

  The role of the microbiome in host-microbe nitrogen cycling remains poorly understood. There is a lack of knowledge on how microbes contribute to the nitrogen requirements of their hosts. The study addresses the gap in understanding the conversion of dissolved organic nitrogen to ammonium and its impact on host-microbe nitrogen cycling.

  generalstated research gapevidence 4/5
  Keywords: role microbiome host-microbe nitrogen cycling remains poorly understood
• Ammonification by kelp associated microbes increases ammonium availability (2024) · PLoS ONE · cited 13× · doi

  Although the large concentration of plants and algae in marine coastal environments provides ample habitat and reliable resources for microbial communities, the role of the microbiome in host-microbe nitrogen cycling remains poorly understood.

  generalabstractevidence 2/5
  Keywords: large concentration plants algae marine coastal environments provides ample habitat reliable resources microbial communities role

Questions about this gap