Marine bacteria Alteromonas spp. require UDP-glucose-4-epimerase for aggregation and production of sticky exopolymer.

in aggregation and large TEP formation, building our mechanistic understanding of these aggregative capabilities. These findings point toward a role for heterotrophic bacteria in POM aggregation in the ocean and support broader efforts to understand bacterial controls on the global carbon cycle based on microbial activities, community structure, and meta-omic profiling.