2024 IC-DIL Webinar (II)_20241122

II Webinar of 2023 "Deep Life Paper"

Time： 22th November 13:00(UTC) 21:00(Beijing)

Speaker：Dr. Hanna Stephanie Zehnle, ETH Zürich

Title：Anaerobic degradation of petroleum alkanes by archaea of the new thermophilic genus Candidatus Alkanophaga

Abstract：Petroleum-rich deep-sea sediments can serve as an analogue for deeply buried petroleum reservoirs. Here, we enriched anaerobic archaea of the novel genus Candidatus Alkanophaga from petroleum-saturated and heated sediment from the Guaymas Basin (Gulf of California, Mexico). Ca. Alkanophaga use divergent methyl-coenzyme M reductases to oxidize petroleum-range alkanes at 70 °C, coupled to sulfate reduction in a novel Thermodesulfobacterium species. These consortia might mediate petroleum degradation in yet unexplored heated petroleum reservoirs.

Speaker：Dr. S. Emil Ruff, Marine Biological Laboratory

Title：Microbial “dark oxygen” production: An overlooked process in Earth’s hidden ecosystems

Abstract：Microorganisms can produce molecular oxygen in the absence of light via the dismutation of nitric oxide or chlorite. Microbiological and geochemical analyses suggest that this “dark oxygen production” occurs in many, globally widespread subsurface environments. The discovery challenges our current understanding of the evolution, ecology, and biogeochemistry of the subsurface biosphere.

Speaker：Dr. Jialin Hou, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Title：Bathyarchaeia, the key driver of carbon cycling that has tangled evolution history with early Earth environment

Abstract：Here, my works firstly focus on illustrating the taxonomic and carbon metabolic diversification of Bathyarchaeia among different lineages based on the largest genome dataset to date. Further field investigations and modeling demonstrated that Bathyarchaeia could actively degrade recalcitrant organic matters, likely for maintenance, along with great contribution to the carbon cycle in the deep subsurface. Moreover, molecular dating analysis indicates that the origin and early diversifications of Bathyarchaeia might be driven by contemporaneous tectonic activities. Notably, one lignin-degrading clade probably contribute to the sharply decreased carbon sequestration rate at the Late Carboniferous period.