New data set reveals Arctic Ocean’s biological ‘treasure chest’

Newswise – A major new project will help assess biodiversity changes in the Arctic Ocean and guide conservation efforts by identifying unique species and assessing their risk of extinction.

The EcoOmics dataset was developed and is being developed by an international team of scientists under joint leadership from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK and the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Germany support bioprospecting to address the shortage of antibiotics and antiviral drugs and unveil evidence of novel biology that could influence our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth.

The team, which includes researchers from the German Helmholtz Association, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Joint Genome Institute (JGI, USA) and the Earlham Institute (UK) as well as several other institutions, discusses the initiative and first results in the diary PLOS Biology, released today.

EcoOmics – the first large “omics” or genome sequence dataset for a polar ecosystem – unveils a year in the biological life of the central Arctic Ocean with a focus on microbiomes, communities of microorganisms living together in a habitat.

Arctic ecosystems are among the most affected by global warming and the Arctic Ocean serves as an indicator of the impacts of climate change and the persistence of biodiversity on our planet.

Due to logistical and accessibility challenges, the Arctic – particularly the central Arctic Ocean – remains one of the most poorly understood environments.

The work of the EcoOmics team aims to address this and provide the scientific community with an “open access” genomic resource. It uses data from samples collected during the groundbreaking Multi-Disciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) program, which ran from September 2019 to October 2020.

During the largest polar expedition in history, the research vessel FS Polarstern saw frozen in the Arctic sea ice and drifted over the top of the Arctic Ocean. Hundreds of scientists conducted a series of coordinated marine, atmospheric, sea ice and other research aimed at improving our understanding of the role of the Arctic Ocean in climate processes.

Prof. Thomas Mock from the School of Environmental Sciences at the UEA, together with Dr. Katja Metfies from AWI the EcoOmics project.

“This is the first and largest attempt to sequence the central Arctic Ocean through space and time,” said Prof. Mock. “It provides the first evidence of novel biology as the work was carried out in an area never before explored using multiomics technology, ie sequencing of genes, genomes and transcriptomes of natural microbial communities from surface to depth central arctic ocean.

dr Metfies said: “This data set will give us unprecedented insight into the importance of sea ice and its associated organisms in maintaining the functionality and services of the Arctic marine ecosystem, which is facing the drastic pressures of climate change.

“MOSAiC gives us an important insight into the future of Arctic ecosystems after 2050, when the Arctic Ocean is expected to be ice-free by summer. This integrative science approach is unprecedented for polar oceans, but is necessary to improve our projections of how interacting species respond to climate change in the Arctic.”

In particular, marine microbes in sea ice and seawater are a cornerstone of this ecosystem, playing critical roles in climate feedbacks and in maintaining food webs that are central to conservation and ecosystem services, such as: B. Providing habitat for species, including fisheries. Microbes also serve as biological indicators due to their rapid adaptive response to environmental changes.

First results from the MOSAiC-EcoOmics group provide the first evidence of habitat filtering in the Arctic Ocean, which describes the process by which habitat features select species adapted to them. Also that the central Arctic Ocean is a “treasure trove” for discovering novel biology that may have evolved as a result of adaptive processes required to thrive in this harsh and understudied environment.

“MOSAiC EcoOmics is well positioned to produce the most comprehensive and integrative genetic and genomic inventory of all polar ecosystems on Earth,” said Prof. Mock. “EcoOmics will contribute to conservation efforts and expand fundamental questions in biology, including the evolution of life on planet Earth, which remains incomplete if polar organisms are not considered.

“These organisms are likely to be a treasure trove for the discovery of novel biology because of their unique adaptations. How our understanding of global biodiversity will be affected by novel polar biology remains to be seen, but our preliminary findings are promising.”

‘Multiomics in the central Arctic Ocean for Benchmarking Biodiversity Change’ has been published in PLOS biology on October 17, 2022.