sediment metagenome Metagenome

In this project we will investigate the metagenome of the Tonga Trench, at 9.2km water depth and up to 2 m sediment depth. Species of hadal fauna are restricted to single or adjacent trenches and as a result trenches have been referred to as “zoographic provinces”. Put another way, trenches are biogeographically constrained “inverted islands of biodiversity”. At this time it is not clear how different trench microbial communities are distinct from one another or from those present in bathypelagic and abyssal regions. As trenches are an extremely unique ecosystem from the pelagic environment, we anticipate that sediments from within trenches will be equally unique and organisms from the Tonga Trench will show unique adaptations to their environment, which can be determined from comparative sequence analysis.