Scientists create unprecedented catalog of microbial life on planet Earth

PNNL scientist helps lead massive effort by more 300 scientists around the globe

News Brief

November 01, 2017

• Tom Rickey, PNNL, (509) 375-3732

RICHLAND, Wash. - Scientists have taken the most extensive snapshot ever of the vast microbial life on Earth.

By drawing on in excess of 27,000 samples of soil, tissue, and water from the Arctic to Antarctica, in excess of 300 scientists at scores of institutions worldwide have created the 1st reference database of bacteria inhabiting the planet. The findings were published Nov. one in the journal Nature.

The study is the latest result from the Earth Microbiome Plan, which is led by a trio of scientists including Janet Jansson of the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab and colleagues at the University of California San Diego, the University of Chicago and DOE's Argonne National Laboratory.

Microbes are tiny, but the goal of Jansson and her colleagues from the outset in 2010 was anything but: To sample as many of the Earth's microbial communities as possible to advance scientific understanding of microbes and their relationships with their environments, including plants, animals and humans. So far the Plan has spanned 7 continents and 43 countries, with scientists analyzing in excess of two billion DNA sequences from bacteria and other microbes.

The team so far has identified around 300,000 unique sequences of the 16S rRNA gene, a genetic marker specific for bacteria and their relatives, archaea. The 16S rRNA sequences serve almost like barcodes - unique identifiers that allow researchers to track bacteria across samples from around the world.

For more information about the work by Jansson and the team, view the full news release.

Tags: Environment, Fundamental Science, Biology, Microbiology

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed and operated by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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