Project Leader:
Dr. Michail Yakimov, Institute of Coastal Marine Environment, Messina, Italy

Principal Investigators:
Professor Gert De Lange, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Professor Christine Ebel, Institute of Structural Biology, Grenoble, France

Associated Partners:
Dr. Cesare Corselli, University of Milano Biococca, Italy
Dr. Manolo Ferrer, Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry, Madrid, Spain
Dr. Peter Golyshin, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
Dr. Thorsten Stoeck, TU Kaiserlautern, Germany

Description of the CRP:
The deep-sea hypersaline anoxic lakes represent a special type of environments different from any known ecosystems and one of the last frontiers of the undiscovered biosphere that challenges the life science today. A number of very initial attempts to characterise the indigenous microbial consortia, gained valuable and promising background information on the presence of novel and unique pro- and eukaryotic organisms in these extreme environments. Up to date, none of them have ever been isolated and obtained in pure culture, thus, their metabolic features and their role within their natural ecosystems are still unknown. MIDDLE Project will concentrate for the first time on the comprehensive molecular biodiversity study of two DHAL environments, namely Discovery (pure bischofite) and L’Atalante - Urania (pure halite) as typical sites for different extreme environments (athalassic and thalassic, respectively). The main objectives and milestones of the proposed study are (i) exploration of the biodiversity of pro- and eukaryotic microorganisms thriving in deep Mediterranean hypersaline anoxic lakes on both phylogenetic and functional gene analysis levels.

(ii) understanding the biogeochemical pathways that sustain DHALs microbial metabolic network systems and the possible interactions of prokaryotes with protists

(iii) exploration and exploitation of the genomic richness hidden within DHALs Further development of molecular techniques like metagenome and functional genomic is foreseen in the frame of MIDDLE to get inside of astonishing DHAL genomic pool and to mine for novel biologically active products of industrial and technological importance. The application of biogeochemical, analytical, biochemical, microbiological, molecular biological studies for detailed bioinformatic characterization of DHALs microbial metabolic network is foreseen in the frame of the MIDDLE Proposal.

The activities of the Institute are the following:

Biological resources and sustainability, with particular attention to fishing and aquaculture resources. Biodiversity of marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles, devoted to the study of: ecosystems of coastal strip and resources
Mechanisms determining biodiversity

Marine system tolerance of perturbation.

Marine geology and morpho-bathymetry based upon the study of the morphology of the sea floor, the acoustic characteristics of the floor, and the stratigraphic and tectonic aspect of the seafloor.

Pre-operation and ecological oceanography of sensorial systems aiming at a continuous forecast of the future conditions of the sea.

The Institute is equipped with several laboratories with upgraded technologies to perform marine research in geological, bio-chemical, physical and biological topics and is the proprietor of a research vessel and minor research platforms