More than four year expedition around the world to bring a real biological treasure with over 35,000 plankton samples collected around the world, the Tara Oceans revealed its first secrets . Researchers of the expedition have already listed 40 million microbial genes totally unknown until now.
A peach plankton carried out between 2009 and 2013 on all seven seas
The expedition endeavored to describe all facets of an unknown world, almost invisible. plankton “The plankton is more than food for whales describes Chris Bowler (ENS, Inserm, CNRS). These microorganisms are the basis of the entire ocean food chain, but also mechanisms that affect the entire planet, as the carbon cycle. “ They represent 80% of the biomass of the oceans, through photosynthesis and produce half the oxygen we breathe. “The analysis revealed about 40 million microbial genes which the vast majority are suggesting that the new plankton biodiversity could be much greater than what we imagined,” said Patrick Wincker the French National Sequencing Centre (Genoscope) One member of the team.
“This is the largest ever conducted sequencing of work for marine organisms”
The organisms forming plankton-virus, microbes, unicellular algae and fish- larvae drifting in the ocean by the currents produce half of our oxygen, absorb much of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere and influence as they are influenced by climate.
This mapping is a first step towards greater understanding of the dynamics and structure of the marine ecosystem as a whole, comment the researchers.
In particular, they sequenced nearly billion genetic barcodes of micro-organisms in plankton and found that there is a greater variety of unicellular eukaryotes such as microalgae expected, says Colomban de Vargas, director of research at the National Centre French Scientific Research (CNRS).
Groups of different organizations are formed depending on the temperature of the water.
Understanding the distribution of these organisms in the oceans and their interactions will be very useful to calibrate computer models needed to study changes across the globe, including especially global warming and its future impact on ocean ecosystems.
“This adventure is also used to show (the public) how the oceans are important for our own well-being, “said Eric Karsenti, director of Tara Oceans and Director of Research at the CNRS.
The expedition has reduced 35,000 Samples from all the seas and ocean basins on the planet a small part has so far been studied.
The best pictures of Tara Oceans
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