New publication: Data mining reveals biodiversity in the deep biosphere

The samples originate from North Sea sediment. In addition to cultivating the microorganisms and sequencing them in the laboratory, the team screened extensively global genome databases: over 8,000 ocean samples and over 11,000 published genomes were searched for microorganisms of the new class Candidatus Penumbrarchaeia.

Their analysis showed that the unknown and rare microorganisms can have functions such as metabolism in oxygen-poor and carbon-rich environments. Notably, these rare microorganisms have a large number of entirely unknown genes. According to the team, the study demonstrates the need for targeted, data-integrative approaches to deepen our understanding of the rare biosphere. Only in this way can the functions and metabolic potential hidden in these little-studied taxa be uncovered.

The study is integrated into the research of the current Cluster of Excellence “The Ocean Floor - Earth's Uncharted Interface”, which is based at MARUM. In particular, the aim here is to better understand ocean floor ecosystems under changing environmental conditions and material cycles.