Chonkus may sound like a champion Sumo wrestler but it is the nickname for a superpower strain of microbe that absorbs lots of CO2 relative to its size and stores it in its large cells.
Chonkus’s real name is Synechococcus elongatus, and it is a large and heavy strain of blue-green alga that soaks up CO2 for its photosynthesis, grows fast in dense colonies and stores more carbon than other strains of this microbe.
Being so heavy, it tends to sink rapidly to the seabed, helping lock away its carbon into a dense slimy sludge. All of which could make chonkus useful for helping get rid of CO2 and curbing the climate crisis.
Not only that, but blue-green alga can be used for producing food supplements, such as omega-3 fatty acids, the antioxidant astaxanthin, and the high-protein food spirulina.
Chonkus was discovered basking in sunlight in the shallow warm seas off the coast of Sicily’s Vulcano island, where carbon dioxide and other gases seep into the sea from volcanic vents.
There is interest in further expeditions to find other possible useful microbes that could help reduce levels of CO2 and turn it into useful products.
