The International Center for Deep Life Investigation (IC-DLI) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 “Deep Life Paper” and “SiYuan-Ocean Emerging Leaders” Awards.

The purpose of the awards is to recognize significant scholarly contributions and outstanding early career researchers in order to encourage further contributions into deep life research and foster the next generation of researchers in this field.

 

2024 “Deep Life Paper”

Out of all the top papers of 2024 proposed by the IC-DLI community, the award committee selected the following five articles as making the most remarkable contributions to the field of deep life.

 

Wu, Kejia; Zhou, Lei; Tahon, Guillaume; Liu, Laiyan; Li, Jiang; Zhang, Jianchao; Zheng, Fengfeng; Deng, Chengpeng; Han, Wenhao; Bai, Liping; Fu, Lin; Dong, Xiuzhu; Zhang, Chuanlun; Ettema, Thijs J. G.; Sousa, Diana Z*.; Cheng, Lei*. Isolation of a methyl-reducing methanogen outside the Euryarchaeota. Nature, 2024, 632(8027): 1124-1130.

"This paper reports the first isolation and characterization of a methanogen outside the Euryarchaeota—Methanosuratincola petrocarbonis LWZ-6 in the phylum Thermoproteota. This archaeon uses H2-dependent methylotrophic methanogenesis as the exclusive energy-conservation pathway, expanding the diversity of methanogens and highlighting the significance of this metabolism in global methane emissions."

 

Lindsay, Melody R.*; D'Angelo, Timothy; Munson-McGee, Jacob H.; Saidi-Mehrabad, Alireza; Devlin, Molly; McGonigle, Julia; Goodell, Elizabeth; Herring, Melissa; Lubelczyk, Laura C.; Mascena, Corianna; Brown, Julia M.; Gavelis, Greg; Liu, Jiarui; Yousavich, D. J.; Brehm, Scott D. Hamilton -; Hedlund, Brian P.; Lang, Susan; Treude, Tina; Poulton, Nicole J.; Stepanauskas, Ramunas; Moser, Duane P.; Emerson, David; Orcutt, Beth N. Species-resolved, single-cell respiration rates reveal dominance of sulfate reduction in a deep continental subsurface ecosystem. PNAS, 2024, 121(15): e2309636121

"This paper presents new technology that could be a game-changer in the exploration of microbial physiology in natural systems. It takes metabolic rate measurements that normally must be made on a bulk collection of cells and applies them to individual cells, allowing metabolism to be investigated in a complex natural community."

 

Bright, Monika*; Gollner, Sabine*; de Oliveira, André Luiz; Espada-Hinojosa, Salvador; Fulford, Avery; Hughes, Ian Vincent; Hourdez, Stephane; Karthäuser, Clarissa; Kolar, Ingrid; Krause, Nicole; Le Layec, Victor; Makovec, Tihomir; Messora, Alessandro; Mitchell, Jessica; Pröts, Philipp; Rodríguez-Ramírez, Ivonne; Sieler, Fanny; Sievert, Stefan M.; Steger, Jan; Tinta, Tinkara; Winter, Teresa Rosa Maria; Bright, Zach; Coffield, Russel; Hill, Carl; Ingram, Kris; Paris, Alex. Animal life in the shallow subseafloor crust at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Nature communications, 2024, 15(1): 8466.

"This study reveals a previously unrecognized subseafloor ecosystem at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, fundamentally challenging our understanding of animal colonization and larval dispersal in extreme environments. By demonstrating the connectivity between seafloor and subsurface habitats, the work reshapes ecological models and underscores the urgency of protecting these complex, multidimensional ecosystems."

 

Dong, Xiyang*#; Zhang, Tianxueyu#; Wu, Weichao; Peng, Yongyi; Liu, Xinyue; Han, Yingchun; Chen, Xiangwei; Gao, Zhizeng; Xia, Jinmei*; Shao, Zongze*; Greening, Chris. A vast repertoire of secondary metabolites potentially influences community dynamics and biogeochemical processes in cold seeps. Science Advances, 2024, 10(17): eadl2281.

"The discovery of deeply-branching uncultured archaea and bacteria has long provided opportunities to discover new natural products with human applications. This paper identifies the potential for such products and finds that they are abundant and full of potential."

 

Chajwa, Rahul; Flaum, Eliott; Bidle, Kay D; Van Mooy, Benjamin; Prakash, Manu*. Hidden comet tails of marine snow impede ocean-based carbon sequestration. Science, 2024, 386(6718): eadl5767.

"This study has important implications for understanding the factors that control the efficiency of the biological pump in the open ocean. This understanding is critical for accurately predicting how much photosynthesis-derived carbon from the surface ocean is transferred to long-term sinks in the deep ocean and deep ocean sediment."

 

2024 “SiYuan-Ocean Emerging Leaders”

This award honors early career researchers for their distinguished performance and outstanding potential as leaders in the deep life community. The recipients were selected from among candidates proposed by the members of the IC-DLI community.

 

The “SiYuan-Ocean Emerging Leaders” for 2024 are:

Devan Marie Nisson

NASA Ames Research Center

"Dr. Devan Nisson is recognized for her impressive contributions to the field and her stellar career trajectory. Dr. Nisson presents insights into oxidative metabolisms in ancient subsurface brines based on single-cell amplified genomes, a truly cutting edge approach that will inspire many more studies. In addition to being an exceptional young scholar and reliable collaborator, Dr. Nisson is also an effective and enthusiastic communicator. Her scientific presentations are clear, engaging and a real pleasure to attend."

Zhichao Zhou

Shenzhen University

"Dr. Zhichao Zhou is recognized for pioneering extremophile research, decoding virus-driven biogeochemical cycles, and advancing bioinformatics tools in deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems."

 

IC-DLI warmly congratulates the award winners and pays tribute to their significant contributions to deep life research. The award winners will be invited to give honorable talks at the 2025 IC-DLI webinar.

 

We would also like to thank our award committee for their time and effort.

 

Award Committee:

Kai-Uwe Hinrichs (University of Bremen), Karen Lloyd (University of Southern California), Jens Kallmeyer (GFZ-Potsdam), Mohamed Jebbar (Université de Bretagne Occidentale Brest), Mark Lever (The University of Texas), ,  Emil Ruff ( Marine Biological Laboratory),  Hanna Stephanie Zehnle (ETH Zürich), Yinzhao Wang (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)