GOLLUM

This project is coordinated by the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology I2SysBio) and the ICTS The Canfranc Underground Laboratory. The project studies the content and the spatial variability of the microbial communities present in limestone rocks samples from the Pyrenees at hundreds meters deep thanks to access thought the Somport tunnel, located in the Central Pyrenees and linking the Aragon (Spain) and Aspe (France) valleys. Gollum explores a little known extreme environment, characterized by few nutrients, various physicochemical substrates, low levels of any type of radiation and small temperature fluctuations. The presence of native DNA and the identification of a high archaea contents and its correlation with present metals are some of the most relevant results and open the possibility of multiple questions, starting by resolving whether genomic material identified corresponds to relic DNA or, on the contrary, to living microorganisms isolated from the outside since tens of millions of years.

Description

Research group: Theory, Bioinformatics and Computation

This project is coordinated by the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology I2SysBio) and the ICTS The Canfranc Underground Laboratory. The project studies the content and the spatial variability of the microbial communities present in limestone rocks samples from the Pyrenees at hundreds meters deep thanks to access thought the Somport tunnel, located in the Central Pyrenees and linking the Aragon (Spain) and Aspe (France) valleys. Gollum explores a little known extreme environment, characterized by few nutrients, various physicochemical substrates, low levels of any type of radiation and small temperature fluctuations. The presence of native DNA and the identification of a high archaea contents and its correlation with present metals are some of the most relevant results and open the possibility of multiple questions, starting by resolving whether genomic material identified corresponds to relic DNA or, on the contrary, to living microorganisms isolated from the outside since tens of millions of years.

Non-UV principal researchers

Carlos Peña Garay

Non-UV participating researchers

Vicente Arnau, Wladimiro Diaz, José Manuel Martí

Start date

2016 January

End date

2019 December

Funding agencies:

Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades

Partners:

Sistemas Genómicos