AstroLakes · Bio-analysis of subglacial volcanic lakes as exoplanet analogues
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-06-01 → 2018-09-23
- EU contribution
- €179,326
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Bio-analysis of subglacial volcanic lakes as exoplanet analogues
AstroLakes proposed to study the biodiversity and ecology of Lake East Skaftárkatlar Iceland. This volcanic subglacial lake results from the interaction of an ice cover melting under the effect of geothermal activity, making it a unique ecosystem on Earth displaying extreme conditions for microbial life. However, studying life in such environment comes with a number of technical difficulties, notably to access and sample the water body and attempt to cultivate its highly specialized inhabitants. In this context, AstroLakes aimed at obtaining complete genomes in order to enable in-depth analysis of the community structure, functional capacities and overall ecology. Studying this lake brings two main source of value for the society. One is purely and scientific, with a better understanding of the evolution of life and ecology in an extreme environment on Earth. This brings knowledge in the field of astrobiology, since the conditions in the Lake are potentially analogous to that of frozen moons such as Enceladus. The second main interest is in the very nature of the organisms found in an extreme environment and adapted to either cold or hot temperatures, absence of oxygen or light, presence of sulfur species. Indeed the gene repertoire of such organisms is likely to contain enzymes of biotechnological or -to a lesser extend - medical interest. The main objectives included building a first ecosystem model for the lake and acquiring genomes of its inhabitants.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Subglacial volcanic lakes in Iceland constitute one of the most pristine ecosystem on Earth and are analogues for similar habitats for life on exoplanets and moons such as Mars and Europa. AstroLakes aims at discovering novel bacterial and archaeal lineages in such lakes by combining metagenomic, culture and single-cell approaches. The outcome of the project will be a holistic multidisciplinary description of the functional structure of this particular ecosystem. This will lead to a better understanding of exoplanets’ analogue environments and unravel novel enzymes displaying medical or biotechnological interest for academia and industry in Europe. Subglacial volcanic lakes have long remained unexplored. Advances in drilling technology through thick ice shelves in the beginning of the 21st century enabled sampling of such lakes and led to the discovery of unique communities of microorganisms adapted to extreme conditions. AstroLakes will sequence and analyse metagenomes from one such subglacial lake, Skaftárkatlar, sampled in 2007, 2014 and 2015. The results will support the development of an ecosystem model by estimating the functional contribution of the communities at different depths and locations in the lake. New isolates and genomes will be obtained through two complementary approaches, cultivation and single-cell sequencing. The cultivation approach will be achieved by designing culture and isolation media adapted to extremophiles with the information acquired from metagenomes. The single-cell approach involves the development of cytometry cell sorting and single-cell sequencing. This will expand the sequencing expertise at the host organisation, Matís. Additionally, the project will impact the career development of the experienced researcher who will gain a wide range of scientific and transferable skills that are relevant to establish a long-term independent leading career in the field of science.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- MATIS OHF · ReykjavikCoordinatorIceland
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union