= Kay D. Bidle
{c}
<Kay D. Bidle> is a <biologist> investigating marine microbial processes. His 1999 study with <Farooq Azam> compared the dissolution of <diatom> <silica> in the presence of marine bacterial assemblages. Bacterial processing accelerated dissolution, linking organic-material degradation to the release of mineral nutrients.<Accelerated dissolution of diatom silica by marine bacterial assemblages by Kay D. Bidle and Farooq Azam>[Abstract and experimental discussion, Nature 397, 508–512]{ref}
A dead <diatom> is consequently not just an inert mineral particle. Its organic coating provides material for <bacteria>, and degradation of that covering changes access to the underlying <silica>. This is a concrete mechanism connecting microbial <ecology> to a <biogeochemical cycle>.
\Image[https://molbiosci.rutgers.edu/images/Faculty_photos/Bidle_Kay.JPG]
{title=Portrait of <Kay D. Bidle>}
{description=Identified Rutgers faculty portrait.}
{source=https://molbiosci.rutgers.edu/faculty-research/faculty/faculty-detail/325-bidle-kay}
{width=260}
Back to article page
