FPU2023-Metabolic interactions in the ocean microbiome

The MAORI project aims to fill a significant knowledge gap in understanding microbial interactions in the ocean, which are crucial for the functioning of this ecosystem and form the base of food webs. Utilizing state-of-the-art molecular and computational techniques, large omics datasets, and innovative experiments, MAORI seeks to advance our understanding of metabolic interactions among ocean microbes. MAORI has four main objectives: Spatiotemporal Analysis: To study how community-level metabolic interaction networks in the ocean change across space and time. Causality Determination: To use EDM to identify the strength and influence of potential interactions among marine microbes over time. Cooperation and Competition: To investigate these aspects among co-occurring ocean microbes using species-level metabolic models that predict metabolite exchange and cross-feeding. Experimental Validation: To validate predicted metabolic interactions through experiments involving co-culturing, measurement of extracellular metabolites, gene expression, and Stable-Isotope Probing (SIP). The project is expected to significantly contribute to our understanding of microbial interactions in the ocean, with implications for understanding the effects of ocean warming on ecosystem function.