The deep ocean, Earth's largest and least explored biome, harbors a vast array of unique life forms that rely on intricate microbial symbioses for survival, nutrient acquisition, and adaptation to extreme conditions. These symbiotic partnerships are not only critical drivers of deep-sea biodiversity and biogeochemical cycling but also hold immense, untapped potential for novel genetic and biotechnological resources. Recognizing this frontier, the Deep Ocean Microbial Symbionts (DOMS) project has been officially endorsed as a United Nations Ocean Decade Action (No. 151.9) to systematically decode these vital biological associations.
Backed by the world-class genomic infrastructure of the BGI Group, DOMS is launching an ambitious scientific execution plan to decode the evolutionary strategies that sustain life in the deep sea. Our foundational goal is to construct a comprehensive global cross-habitat symbiont reference database. By systematically sampling across major extreme environments, such as hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, seamounts, and trenches, and targeting core animal groups, we aim to uncover novel functional diversity and discover high-value bioresources, including novel enzymes and antimicrobial peptides.
To realize this unprecedented endeavor at an industrial scale, DOMS leverages BGI’s end-to-end proprietary technology ecosystem to eliminate traditional analytical bottlenecks. By integrating ultra-high-throughput DNBSEQ, long-read CycloneSEQ, and cutting-edge single-cell sequencing with petabyte-scale computational power, we have established a highly scalable, standardized pipeline. This robust infrastructure can rapidly process thousands of environmental and biological samples, generating high-quality genomes and transforming raw deep-sea material into actionable, AI-ready digital assets. In doing so, DOMS is poised to set the global gold standard for marine microbial big data.
Crucially, this data-driven technological foundation enables DOMS to move beyond static genomic cataloging and embrace a multi-scale systems ecology framework. We are bridging the critical gap between genetic potential and dynamic ecological reality by tracing metabolic exchanges and nutrient fluxes from community metabolism to large-scale biogeochemical cycling. This paradigm shift allows us to transition from simply identifying who is there to resolving complex, in situ host-microbe interactions and uncovering the universal rules of co-evolution. Ultimately, this comprehensive approach will establish a robust ecological baseline for assessing deep-sea ecosystem health, resilience, and global climate responses.
Aligned with the UN Ocean Decade, DOMS champions open science and FAIR/CARE-compliant data to advance global ocean governance and the BBNJ Agreement. We invite global partners to join our expanding consortium, leveraging our infrastructure and sample networks to decode the deep ocean genome and unlock its sustainable potential.

暂无