Census of Deep Life

The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) sponsored a workshop at the Wrigley Field Station on Catalina Island CA (March 2010) to discuss Deep Life in marine and continental subsurface environments. This interdisciplinary working group produced the white paper Deep Subsurface Microbiology and the Deep Carbon Observatory ( http://dco.gl.ciw.edu/sites/dco.gl.ciw.edu/files/Deep%20Life%20White%20Paper.pdf ) which outlines key questions and research strategies for exploring 1) the genetic and physiological diversity of subsurface microbes, 2) the co-evolutionary and synergistic interactions of subsurface microbial populations, 3) their biomass, community structure and distribution in different geological systems, 4) their in situ growth and activity rates, and 5) the role of microbes in carbon and other geochemical cycles. In response to this report, we have secured resources for the initial phase of a global survey of deep life in continental and marine environments using deep DNA sequencing technology . To accomplish this task we solicit proposals from investigators who study deep life from relevant globally distributed sites for deep sequencing analysis of microbial ribosomal RNAs (pyrotag analyses of V6-V4 or V3-V5 hypervariable regions - see: Huber et al. SCIENCE. 318:97-100 (2007)). Successful applicants must provide high-quality DNA samples (including DNA concentrations and a demonstration that the samples can be PCR amplified with rRNA primers) for pyrotag sequence analysis. The applicants will have exclusive access to the pyrotag data for a six-month period or until it appears in their published manuscripts.