Bio-Archive Core Storage and Subsampling Procedure for Subseafloor Molecular Biological Research
The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) provides unprecedented opportunities to study the deep subseafloor biosphere. Subseafloor microbes play important roles in biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, metals, and other elements on geologic timescales; however, their growth and met...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2009-09-01
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| Series: | Scientific Drilling |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.iodp.org/images/stories/downloads/sd8_09.pdf#page=35 |
| Summary: | The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) provides unprecedented opportunities to study the deep subseafloor biosphere. Subseafloor microbes play important roles in biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, metals, and other elements on geologic timescales; however, their growth and metabolic characteristics remain largely unknown because most subseafloor microbes are phylogenetically distinct from known isolates and resistant to culturing in laboratories. Given the significance of this region as potential habitats of subseafloor life, cored materials (or portions thereof) should be frozen in long-term storage to provide opportunities for future molecular analyses arising from rapid biotechnological developments (D’Hondt et al., 2007). Here we report a semi-aseptic subsampling technique for frozen core samples using an electric saw system in a clean booth. This subsampling technique enables us to share and distribute samples from the same depth for multiple analyses, such as DNA and lipid biomarkers, without thawing thefrozen core. |
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| ISSN: | 1816-8957 1816-3459 |