Microbes unable to break down carbohydrates belong to a newly identified family of marine bacteria.

A German-American research team, led by Professor Iliana Baums of the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg (HIFMB) and Dr. Samuel Vohsen from Lehigh University in the United States, has identified two highly unusual bacterial species within the tissue of two deep-sea coral species from the Gulf of Mexico.