Sweet spots in the sea

Lush meadows of the seagrass  Posidonia oceanica  in the Mediterranean. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Marine Microbiology predict that their findings are relevant for many marine environments with plants, including other seagrass species, mangroves and saltmarshes. HYDRA Marine Sciences GmbH Lush meadows of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Marine Microbiology predict that their findings are relevant for many marine environments with plants, including other seagrass species, mangroves and saltmarshes. HYDRA Marine Sciences GmbH - Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology now report that seagrasses release large amounts of sugar, largely in the form of sucrose, into their soils - worldwide more than one million tons of sucrose, enough for 32 billion cans of coke. Such high concentrations of sugar are surprising. Normally, microorganisms quickly consume any free sugars in their environment.