NYU biologists chart surprising resilience of Gulf microbiomes aboard “Jaywun”

A research cruise across 34 stations in the UAE’s territorial waters has revealed that the Arabian Gulf’s microbial communities are far more productive and adaptable than expected, even under extreme heat, high salinity, and low oxygen.

 

Working on the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi’s 50-meter research vessel 'Jaywun', teams including Prof. Shady Amin (Marine Microbiomics Lab, NYU Abu Dhabi) collected over 2,500 water samples and paired on-board chlorophyll measurements with community profiling.

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Chlorophyll signals showed dense coastal phytoplankton, forming the base of a robust marine food web. A key finding was the prominence of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, which convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, making nutrients bioavailable for themselves and other organisms. This mechanism likely sustains productivity in otherwise nutrient-limited Gulf waters.

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Why it matters: as oceans worldwide warm and stratify, many regions may begin to resemble Gulf conditions. Decoding how microbe–phytoplankton partnerships persist under heat and salt stress can sharpen predictions of marine productivity, guide conservation, and even inform bioprospecting for novel molecules with pharmaceutical potential.

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Project leads and partners: NYU Abu Dhabi Marine Microbiomics Lab (Amin), with UAE collaborators aboard EAD’s Jaywun, using six onboard labs and advanced oceanographic instrumentation.

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