Expedition to Southern Baikal, Febrary 25-28, 2020
The expedition within the frameworkmarch of the program “Molecular Ecology and the Evolution of Living Systems of Central Asia in the Context of Global Environmental Changes” was carried out from 25 to 28 Febrary, in Southern Baikal (near Skriper Cape, Varnachka Valley, between the pier and the Kotinka River, and at a 2.5-km distance from the research station in the Bolshiye Koty settlement).
The aim of the expedition was to collect sponge samples to continue annual assessment of changes in the composition of sponge microbiomes during the ecosystem crisis in the littoral zone of Lake Baikal.
During the expedition, samples of sponges and picoplankton were taken from depths of 6-12 m for the following purposes: i) conducting a metagenomic analysis of the microbiome composition in sick sponges and sponges with no visible signs of disease; ii) obtaining a primmorph cell culture from samples of healthy sponges, which will serve as a model of infection of sponges with individual strains of microorganisms; iii) obtaining isolates of green planktonic microalgae to compare genomes of planktonic and symbiotic algae.
The main results will be obtained after the completion of laboratory work on the analysis of microbiomes by methods of sequencing and bioinformatiс analysis.
