Just a few days ago, a team of researchers confirmed the existence of a prosperous community of strange creatures 8 kilometers deep, at the bottom of the pit of Japan, a place where life was believed impossible. And now, in an investigation … Unprecedented, a Chinese team of scientists has just curled the curl by revealing the discovery of up to 7,000 species of microbes, crustaceans and fish (90% of them totally unknown), in the Hadal area of the Mariana pit, the deepest point of the Earth’s oceans, 11 kilometers. Under the surface. The spectacular discovery has just been published in ‘Cell‘.
Until recently it was thought that due to absolute darkness, extreme cold, lack of oxygen and nutrients and enormous pressure (which increases 10 atmospheres per 100 meters deep), nothing could live in the Hadal area, an oceanic region that begins just where the abyssal zone ends (6 kilometers deep) and descends to 11 kilometers. The pressure there is so extreme that a human body without proper protection would be crushed instantly. Not surprisingly, it is one of the least explored borders on the planet, and until 2020 only nine people had reached there (less than those who have visited the moon), number that has now grown to 22.
33 immersions
The latter to do so have been a team of Chinese scientists aboard the tripled submersible ‘Fendouzhe’ (‘fighter’), which carried out 33 dives between August and November 2021. The results of the expedition, called the Environmental Research and Ecology Research Project of the Mariana Tips (Meer), have revealed the existence of an unexpected, vibrant and diverse ecosystem, household Microbes never seen before.
But not all, although most of the 7,000 species found were microscopic organisms. The researchers also found 662 small crustaceans, of the Hirondlela Gigas species, and detected the presence of Pseudoliparis Swirei, which holds the record of being the deepest fish ever found and that lives quietly under a pressure that very few other fish could endure.
The study of these macroscopic organisms revealed adaptation mechanisms shared with microbes, such as the improvement of antioxidant capacities and intracellular accumulation of compatible solutes. Which suggests that in the Hadal environments there are convergent adaptation strategies, which transcend the borders of species and biological domains.
Strategies from another world
The genetic analysis of these microbes has revealed novel and fascinating survival strategies. Some have small and more efficient genomes, designed to resist immense pressure. Others, on the contrary, have larger and more versatile genomes, which allows them to adapt to the fluctuations of the environment and survive using a wider range of food sources. It is as if some microbes were high performance athletes, optimized for a single task, while others were versatile, capable of adapting to different nature challenges. Some of the discovered microbes also have genes that allow them to produce proteins that resist pressure, as if they had a kind of molecular diving suit.
“We observe an extraordinarily high novelty, diversity and heterogeneity in the Hadal microbioma, especially between prokaryotes and viruses, which are affected by both the broader context of extreme environmental conditions and by the delicate topography of the Hadal area,” explain the researchers themselves in researchers themselves An editorial that accompanies your study.
Cooperation in depths
Another surprising finding was the importance of cooperation between microbes when surviving in the depths. In the lowest areas, in fact, microbes tend to form communities in which they share nutrients and benefit mutually, even forming protective biofilms. Which suggests that cooperation is a key strategy for survival in this extreme environment.
The unexpected and extraordinary diversity of hadal microbes represents, according to researchers, a treasure of potential biological resources. The genes, structures and novel functions discovered in these organisms could have applications in various fields, from medicine to biotechnology.
“The extraordinarily high novelty and diversity of hadal microorganisms – written the authors – indicate potentials of totally new gene structures, structures and functions, which can be alternative options to relieve the current exhaustion of terrestrial biological resources.”
In short, the Meer expedition has opened a new window to the Hadal world, revealing a fascinating and complex ecosystem where no one expected. The data collected by the equipment is available online so that other scientists can explore them and use them in their own research.
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