Final Report Summary - CAENEUS (Crenarchaeota ecology and nutrient utilization in the subsurface ocean)
Project objectives
CAENEUS aims to study microbial communities in the dark open ocean by determining their abundance, identity, activity and the environmental factors influencing their distribution and activity.
Project results
To address these objectives I joined two cruises. In October 2010, on RV Pelagia in the open Atlantic, I took samples for molecular analysis, single-cells analysis, prokaryotic activities and abundance. The samples have already been processed and a manuscript has been submitted for publication. In March 2011, on RRS James Cook, we focused on a transect from 52 oS to the equator in the Southern Atlantic Ocean and samples were taken for molecular analysis, single-cells analysis, prokaryotic activities and abundance. The analyses of these samples is still in progress.
Apart from the research activities, I have participated in all the seminars, journal clubs and management meetings of the Department of Marine Biology at the University of Vienna. The results of this project have been presented at three international meetings: SAME12, Ocean Science Meeting and ISME14. One manuscript is submitted for publication, and one is currently being prepared and will be submitted in October 2012.
Project impact
The project took advantage of recent major scientific findings and will substantially increase our knowledge on the ecology of marine prokaryotes thriving throughout the world's oceans. In general, the deep sea has received considerable scientific attention in recent years, since it has been recognised that we know more about the surface of the moon than about the deep pelagic waters comprising the largest marine subsystem amounting to about 80 % of global ocean volume. Using molecular tools, several novel metabolic pathways have recently been discovered in the deep sea. The work in this project has allowed us to effectively link genomics with biogeochemical rate measurements. This has substantially widened my scientific horizon, and allowed me to acquire technological know-how and to stimulate and advance my scientific career.
CAENEUS aims to study microbial communities in the dark open ocean by determining their abundance, identity, activity and the environmental factors influencing their distribution and activity.
Project results
To address these objectives I joined two cruises. In October 2010, on RV Pelagia in the open Atlantic, I took samples for molecular analysis, single-cells analysis, prokaryotic activities and abundance. The samples have already been processed and a manuscript has been submitted for publication. In March 2011, on RRS James Cook, we focused on a transect from 52 oS to the equator in the Southern Atlantic Ocean and samples were taken for molecular analysis, single-cells analysis, prokaryotic activities and abundance. The analyses of these samples is still in progress.
Apart from the research activities, I have participated in all the seminars, journal clubs and management meetings of the Department of Marine Biology at the University of Vienna. The results of this project have been presented at three international meetings: SAME12, Ocean Science Meeting and ISME14. One manuscript is submitted for publication, and one is currently being prepared and will be submitted in October 2012.
Project impact
The project took advantage of recent major scientific findings and will substantially increase our knowledge on the ecology of marine prokaryotes thriving throughout the world's oceans. In general, the deep sea has received considerable scientific attention in recent years, since it has been recognised that we know more about the surface of the moon than about the deep pelagic waters comprising the largest marine subsystem amounting to about 80 % of global ocean volume. Using molecular tools, several novel metabolic pathways have recently been discovered in the deep sea. The work in this project has allowed us to effectively link genomics with biogeochemical rate measurements. This has substantially widened my scientific horizon, and allowed me to acquire technological know-how and to stimulate and advance my scientific career.
