CCTV News: With the help of my country's "Struggler" manned submersible and national production scientific research system, Chinese scientists have successfully drawn the world's first deepest ocean ecosystem map and revealed the adaptation strategies and resource potential of abyss life. Today (March 7), this research result was published in the top international journal "Cell", marking that my country's deep-sea microbial research is at the forefront of the world.
A Chinese scientific research team took three years to analyze more than 1,600 microbial samples, more than 600 hook shrimp samples, as well as 11 different deep-sea fishes, and for the first time the world's first panoramic view of the abyss ecosystem was obtained.
Member of the research team of Shanghai Jiaotong University Wang Jing: We have identified 7564 microbial species in the Mariana Trench. By comparing them with public databases and other known environments, we found that 89.4% of these species are brand new.
The researchers found that there is a unique "co-adaptation" mechanism between abyss microorganisms, hook shrimps and fish. These organisms use similar antioxidant strategies to deal with extreme stress, which not only relieves cell damage, but may also provide new ideas for human anti-aging and other research. Researchers have found that abyss microorganisms may contain new antibiotics, environmentally friendly enzymes and other biologically active substances, which will provide new resources for pharmaceutical and energy development.
Wang Jing, member of the scientific research team of Shanghai Jiaotong University: In the abyss microbial community, they have many capabilities to degrade (containing) compounds such as benzene rings. Our traditional treatment methods are difficult to completely degrade benzene rings. So the ability we discover from the abyss to degrade benzene rings can be applied in the degradation and treatment of complex pollutants in the future.
It is understood that my country's scientific research team has established the world's first large database of abyss microbials, and has opened and shared data to the international community through the Mariana Consensus, promoting the global joint exploration of the mysteries of the deep sea.
