DeepSeaQuence
Runar Stokke, researcher at the Center for Deep Sea Research, is now leading an international project that will aim at investigating the genetic diversity of microbial communities in the hydrothermal systems of the Arctic Mid-Ocean ridge.
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DeepSeaQuence (2021 – 2024) aims at revealing the genetic and functional diversity of the vast unknown microbial diversity in deep-sea hydrothermal vents by studying vent fields along the Arctic Mid-Ocean ridge. DeepSeaQuence thus focuses on one of the least explored marine realms. DeepSeaQuence aims to provide important base-line ecosystem knowledge of a habitat that is an important Norwegian reservoir of mineral resources and a site where bioprospecting activities may lead to the discovery of new biomolecules of immense economical value. DeepSeaQuence will go beyond the exploratory and seek out added values and possibilities to address central global challenges within focus on natural resources and the marine environment. DeepSeaQuence is interdisciplinary, spanning microbial ecology, geochemistry, microbial interactions, bioinformatics, supported by advanced Norwegian marine technology. Altogether, the knowledgebase provided by DeepSeaQuence will impact our understanding of the distribution, diversity, metabolic repertoire, and interactions of the vastly uncultivated, and thus far largely unknown, microbial biosphere in deep-sea hydrothermal systems.
The project is divided into four Work Packages, with UiB – University of Bergen; CeBiTec – University of Bielefeld, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway and JYU – University of Jyväskylä as Partners.
Homepage: https://deepseaquence.w.uib.no/