Project information
Project manager
Mark Dopson
Other project members
Carolina Gonzalez, Linnaeus University, Stefan Bertilsson and Maliheh Mehrshad, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Participating organisations
Linnaeus University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Funder
Olle Enqvists Stiftelse
Timetable
2026-02-09 to 2028-02-08
Subject
Environmental science (Department of Biology of Environmental Science, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
Linnaeus University Centre (Lnuc)
Linnaeus University Centre for the Environment (CENWIN), Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems (EEMiS)
Knowledge Environment
Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Water
More about the project
The deep biosphere is defined as the microbial life beneath Earth’s surface that constitutes a substantial portion of the planet’s microbial biomass and plays a key role in global nutrient and energy cycles. Despite its ecological importance, the terrestrial deep subsurface has not been analyzed in a comprehensive, integrated manner.
The applicants have compiled the largest database of global deep biosphere sequencing data, termed the “Fennoscandian Shield Genomic Database”. This project will investigate how microbial communities in subsurface groundwaters adapt to environments with low nutrient and energy availability. The central hypothesis is that conserved microbial populations in the deep biosphere undergo genomic adaptations (such as gene gain and loss, horizontal gene transfer, and recombination) that enhance survival and fitness in low carbon and energy conditions. By analyzing nucleic acid sequencing data from globally distributed sites, the project has the overarching aim to identify evolutionary forces and genomic mechanisms driving these adaptations and shaping long-term microbial evolution in extreme subsurface habitats. Comparative genomics will be used to assess functional traits, metabolism pathways, growth strategies, and genes associated with adaptations to deep groundwater conditions. Finally, novel bioinformatic approaches will be applied to distinguish essential and flexible genomic components in metagenome-assembled genomes, revealing traits that support survival in energy- and nutrient-poor environments.
New insights into the vast microbial biomass beneath the surface will improve our understanding of global nutrient and energy cycles, especially in low energy groundwater systems. The findings may also inform about astrobiology, such as the potential for life on Mars, and have implications for subsurface infrastructure, geological repositories, and sustainable freshwater use in a changing climate.
The project is part of the research within the Linnaeus University Centre for the Environment (CENWIN), Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems (EEMiS) and Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Water.
