CEODOS and AtlantECO Microbiome Mission Scientists Analyze Ocean Omics Data in Chile

The international scientific workshop “Towards a modern analysis of ocean omics data” was held from May 15 to 19, and brought together teams from the Atlantic (AtlantECO) and Pacific (CEODOS Chile) components of the Mission Microbiome (also known as Tara Microbiomes) expedition, as well as researchers from related projects, in order to discuss and work on the data collected by this expedition, including omics data processing standards, types of bioinformatics analysis, data analysis, and data processing standards, as well as researchers from related projects, in order to discuss and work on the data collected by this expedition, including omics data processing standards, types of bioinformatics analysis, data analysis, public policy implications, and mathematical and physical modeling.

The workshop, which consisted of two sessions, was organized by a committee of representatives from national and foreign institutions, including Dr. Camila Fernández, director of the COPAS Coastal Center and Dr. Alejandro Maass of the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the University of Chile. The first instance consisted of a dialogue session called “Filling the scientific gap for a sustainable and predictable ocean: a dialogue between science and policy”, which was held on Monday, May 15 at the Santiago campus of the Universidad de Concepción.

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“There was a very good conversation with people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and science. We addressed current issues such as offshore marine areas and the complexities involved in maintaining and designing them. Tara Microbiomes represents a contribution to the design of marine areas based on plankton and we believe that we have taken the first step towards real communication with decision makers”, said Dr. Fernandez, who presented during the session the initial results of the first stage of the Microbiome Mission, corresponding to CEODOS Chile.

Dr. Alejandro Maass explained that “CEODOS has the importance of systematizing ocean sampling at the plankton level along the Chilean coast over time, to be able to understand through this systematic sampling, what is the health of our coasts and to be able to interpolate this type of knowledge to the rest of the planet”.

“My expectation is that in the next ten years we will develop an international collaborative network where we will be able to understand the ocean very holistically, very transdisciplinary. I have a lot of expectations in this project. I also believe that we will be able to develop tools that will help public policy to make decisions in the future,” added Maass.

Subsequently, a round table discussion was held with the presence of various Chilean ministerial representatives, including Felipe Paredes (Head of Marine Protected Areas, Ministry of Environment), Salvador Vega (Head of Ocean Department, Division of Environment, Climate Change and Oceans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Gonzalo Arenas (Head of International Relations, Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation) and Sofia Valenzuela (Seremi Sciences Macrozone Central-South Chile).

The second instance included three days of work between CEODOS Chile and AtlantECO researchers at the Institute of Complex Systems in Valparaiso, in order to generate frameworks according to the complexity of the data collected by the expedition. That said, the topics covered included sequencing protocols, assembly and final product standards, biological networks, biologically defined geographies, modeling (Lagrangian and macroecological approaches) and data analysis techniques applied to the ocean.

According to Dr. Camila Fernández, this workshop was a very productive activity, since in addition to recapitulating the entire expedition, “we were able to interact with colleagues from Brazil, Argentina, Africa and France in order to have a better organization of the work ahead of us”, referring to data analysis and paper writing. He also highlighted the collaboration with the MWC and the contribution of the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO) with funds, as well as the presence of the former Minister of Science Andrés Couve, who was very important for Tara Microbiomes in Chile and contributed with reflections and ideas during the meeting.

What was the Microbiome Mission?

Focused on the analysis of the marine microscopic world, the Microbiome Mission traveled for two years through the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (including our coast from Iquique to Punta Arenas) in order to help understand the impact of climate change on the seas. The mission was carried out aboard the schooner Tara, belonging to the Tara Ocean Foundation (France) and from which the other name of the expedition derives (Tara Microbiomes). Tara Ocean is known for developing open and innovative science that seeks to better predict, anticipate and manage climate risks, using high-level scientific knowledge to raise awareness and educate, as well as to mobilize policy makers and provide emerging countries with access to the latest ocean knowledge.

What is CEODOS Chile?

It is a scientific consortium that works to study the importance of the ocean in the exchange of greenhouse gases and the state of the microbial community. It is integrated by several scientific institutions, among which are: COPAS Coastal, CMM, Inria Chile, the Center for Climate Science and Resilience (CR2), the Center for Genome Regulation (CRG), the Center for Ecosystem Research in Patagonia (CIEP), the IDEAL Center, the INCAR Center, and the LIA MAST International Associate Laboratory. That said, it is jointly led by Dr. Camila Fernández and Dr. Alejandro Maass. This consortium comes from a long-standing collaboration between the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Chilean institutions, which is materialized in the CMM International Research Laboratory (Universidad de Chile) and the LIA MAST International Associated Laboratory (Universidad de Concepción, CIEP and Universidad Austral).

Alonso Farías Ponce, CMM journalist and Celeste Burgos, COPAS COASTAL communications.

Posted on Jun 6, 2023 in News