{"id":5211,"date":"2026-03-09T14:29:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/?p=5211"},"modified":"2026-03-10T16:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T16:08:34","slug":"a-vast-reservoir-of-unknown-genes-in-the-southern-ocean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/a-vast-reservoir-of-unknown-genes-in-the-southern-ocean\/","title":{"rendered":"A Vast Reservoir of Unknown Genes in the Southern Ocean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

See Duke Nicholas School Press release<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a new Nature Communications<\/em> study<\/a>, we present a comprehensive gene catalog from 218 metagenomes collected during the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition, providing one of the most extensive genomic surveys of the Southern Ocean (SO) to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We find that the SO harbors a highly distinct and largely uncharacterized genetic repertoire: most genes are absent from functional databases, and a significant fraction lack homologs in existing marine gene catalogs, defining a singular polar genetic seascape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern Ocean are strongly structured by water masses at the scale of the SO, highlighting the role of ocean circulation in shaping microbial function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We further identify genomic markers linked to key ecological processes, including DMSP cleavage by polar-adapted bacteria, organic matter degradation in the Mertz polynya bloom, and polar adaptations in Pelagibacter<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work provides a new foundation for understanding Southern Ocean plankton ecology and and how it is changing over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

See Duke Nicholas School Press release In a new Nature Communications study, we present a comprehensive gene catalog from 218 metagenomes collected during the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition, providing one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1421,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lab-news","post-preview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9c288-1m3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5211"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5220,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5211\/revisions\/5220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nicholas.duke.edu\/cassar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}