
Systematic exploration of the hadal zone, Earth’s deepest oceanic realm, has historically faced technical limitations. Here, we collected 1,648 sediment samples at 6-11 km in the Mariana Trench, Yap Trench, and Philippine Basin for the Mariana Trench Environment and Ecology Research (MEER) project. Metagenomic and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing generated the 92-Tbp MEER dataset, comprising 7,564 species (89.4% unreported), indicating high taxonomic novelty. Unlike in reported environments, neutral drift played a minimal role, while homogeneous selection (HoS, 50.5%) and dispersal limitation (DL, 43.8%) emerged as dominant ecological drivers. HoS favored streamlined genomes with key functions for hadal adaptation, e.g., aromatic compound utilization (oligotrophic adaptation) and antioxidation (high-pressure adaptation). Conversely, DL promoted versatile metabolism with larger genomes. These findings indicated that environmental factors drive the high taxonomic novelty in the hadal zone, advancing our understanding of the ecological mechanisms governing microbial ecosystem in such an extreme oceanic environment.
All data can be viewed in NODE (http://www.biosino.org/node) by pasting the accession OEP004067 into the text search box or through the URL: https://www.biosino.org/node/project/detail/OEP004067 and has been deposited at CNSA with the accession CNP0004890 (https://db.cngb.org/search/project/CNP0004890/)
Xiao, X., Zhao, W., Song, Z., Qi, Q., Wang, B., Zhu, J., ... & Liu, S. (2025). Microbial ecosystems and ecological driving forces in the deepest ocean sediments. Cell, 188(5), 1363-1377. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.12.036