sediment metagenome Metagenome. sediment 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.

本研究将对水深9.2千米、沉积物深度可达2米的汤加海沟（Tonga Trench）的宏基因组（metagenome）展开探究。深渊生物群（hadal fauna）的物种仅局限于单个或相邻海沟，因此海沟被称为“动物地理区（zoographic provinces）”。换言之，海沟是生物地理上受限的“生物多样性倒置岛屿”。目前尚不清楚不同海沟的微生物群落之间彼此存在何种差异，也不清楚它们与深海带（bathypelagic）及深渊带（abyssal）区域的微生物群落有何区别。鉴于海沟是一类与远洋环境截然不同的独特生态系统，我们推测海沟内部的沉积物同样具备独特性，汤加海沟的生物也将展现出对其生存环境的独特适应性，这一结论可通过比较序列分析（comparative sequence analysis）得到验证。