Previously unknown community of 19 microorganisms discovered in the tunnel of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory
The Microbiology Resource Announcements journal has published 19 genomes of microorganisms reconstructed from metagenomic data of a deep microbial community that is located at the hydrothermal vent of the BNO INR RAS underground tunnel. The major part of the microbial community belongs to the types of Pseudomonadota (classes Gamma-, Beta-, Alphaproteobacteria), Planctomycetota, Myxococcota, Nitrospirota, Cyanobacteria, Gemmatimonadota, and Armatimonadota. All 19 genomes of microorganisms were officially registered in the open genetic sequence database GenBank of the National Institute of Health (USA) and are available for free use by other scientists.
This research allows expanding our knowledge about deep underground microbial communities and makes it easier to identify functional genes with potential biotechnological applications.
The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (RSF).
The authors of the publication: K. A. Tarasov, E. V. Kravchenko, M. P. Zarubin, A. S. Yakhnenko.