Comparative metagenomic analysis of a microbial community residing at a depth of 4,000 meters at station ALOHA in the North Pacific subtropical gyre.

ABSTRACT: The deep sea (water depth of >2,000 m) represents the largest biome on Earth. Yet relatively little is known about its microbial community's structure, function, and adaptation to the cold and deep biosphere. To provide further genomic insights into deep-sea planktonic microbes, we sequenced a total of approximately 200 Mbp of a random whole-genome shotgun (WGS) library from a microbial community residing at a depth of 4,000 m at Station ALOHA in the Pacific Ocean and compared it to other available WGS sequence data from surface and deep waters. Our analyses indicated that the deep-sea lifestyle is likely facilitated by a collection of very subtle adaptations, as opposed to dramatic alterations of gene content or structure. These adaptations appear to include higher metabolic versatility a

SUBMITTER: Konstantinidis KT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2725473 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature