Metabolism and evolution of the bacterial candidate phylum WOR-3

The hot spring environments harbor many uncultivated microbial taxa, and the discovery and genomic characterization of these uncultivated microbial groups have substantially advanced our understanding of the diversity, ecology and evolution of microorganisms. The bacterial candidate phylum WOR-3 is widely distributed in various harsh environments including hot springs. However, their physiology, ecology and evolutionary history remain elusive due to lack of pure cultures and systematic efforts to interpret genomics data within the context of this candidate phylum. In this project, in order to systematically reveal the genomic diversity, ecological functions and evolutionary history, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and comparative genomics will be carried out for the sedimental samples from hot springs of Tengchong, Yunnan.