Proteobacteria bacterium JGI 0000113-D06

Microbial Systems Ecology of Expanding Oxygen-Minimum Zones (OMZs) in the Northeast subarctic Pacific Ocean (NESAP). This project investigates microbial gene expression in the OMZ of the NESAP. Comparative metagenomics and transcriptomics approaches will identify molecular indicators for microbial community responses to changing levels of water-column oxygen-deficiency, with samples from locations representing seasonally anoxic, coastal, transition and open-ocean OMZs. The multi-molecular data sets will facilitate identification of environmental and genetic factors regulating systems metabolism and biogeochemical cycling within the oxygen-deficient water column. These ecological indicator genes will aid development of probe sets for in situ monitoring devices, and provide a database for comparative community genomic studies.