DNA Shed by Deep-Sea Organisms Reveals a Dark Abyss Teeming With Tiny Life Forms CARLY CASSELLA5 FEBRUARY 2022
The sediment collected at each spot was analyzed for environmental DNA (eDNA), which marine animals shed as they go
Researchers compared the results to other existing DNA datasets of plankton, collected in the upper layers of the ocean, to
In the end, the researchers found most eukaryotic organisms living on the ocean floor are unknown to modern science. What’s
It’s the first time scientists have put together a consistent molecular dataset of the ocean realm on a such global scale, and
“Our data indicates that nearly two-third[s] of this benthic diversity cannot be assigned to any known group, revealing a major
The deep ocean’s sediment covers more than half the surface of our planet, but the vastness of this habitat – not to mention its
In recent years, remotely operated vehicles have helped us explore a minuscule fraction of the deep sea. Yet, even those brief
“These deep-ocean sediment assemblages comprise not only taxa that are known to be important drivers of the biological
Recent evidence, for example, has found deep-sea plankton can be preserved in sediment just below the seafloor. This leaves
Given how much life is at stake, the authors are calling for further exploration of the seafloor to understand better and protect
“With nearly 1,700 samples and 2 billion DNA sequences from the surface to the deep-ocean floor worldwide, high-throughput
Source: DNA Shed by Deep-Sea Organisms Reveals a Dark Abyss Teeming With Tiny Life Forms
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