Abstract

The Ocean Plankton Metagenome and its Biotechnological Potential

Chris Bowler, Director/Team Leader, Ecole Normale Superieure

With biology becoming quantitative, systems level studies can now be performed at spatial scales ranging from molecules to ecosystems. Biological data generated consistently across scales can be integrated with physico-chemical contextual data for a truly holistic approach. Marine planktonic ecosystems comprise the base of the ocean food web, and are crucial in the regulation of Earth’s biogeochemical cycles and climate, however their organization, evolution and dynamics remain poorly understood. The Tara Oceans expedition was launched in September 2009 for a 3-year study of the global ocean ecosystem aboard the schooner Tara. A unique sampling programme encompassing optical and genomic methods to describe viruses, bacteria, archaea, protists and metazoans in their physico-chemical environment has been implemented (http://www.embl.de/tara-oceans/start/). The project aims to generate systematic, open access datasets usable for probing the morphological and molecular makeup, diversity, evolution, ecology and global impacts of plankton on the Earth system, as well as to explore and exploit their biotechnological potential.