在海洋有机碳库中芳烃类难降解有机质更倾向于在沉积层累积，但海洋微生物的芳烃降解研究主要在近岸和浅海域并集中在细菌和可培养古菌中，深海和未培养古菌的研究甚少。深海冷泉环境中存在石油和沉降芳烃，推测以未培养的甲烷厌氧氧化古菌（ANME）为主导的菌群参与了芳烃的代谢和利用。前期工作在来自于Cadiz湾冷泉ANME的组装基因组中鉴定了芳烃代谢中参与苯环活化的苯乙酸CoA连接酶和苯甲酸CoA连接酶基因。本项目拟以来自Cadiz湾冷泉的ANME富集物为研究对象，旨在通过宏基因组、宏转录组、关键酶表达鉴定、代谢途径重构和模拟深海环境培养等方法，在基因、细胞与群落水平探寻ANME对难降解芳烃的转化和代谢潜能。该研究有助于拓宽对ANME这一重要古菌尚未知晓的芳烃代谢潜能的认识，揭示深海未培养古菌与陆地和其它海洋可培养微生物代谢途径和酶的异同，为论证和阐明未培养古菌在深海碳循环的驱动作用及其关键机制提供证据。

In the marine organic carbon pool, the refractory aromatic organic matters are more likely to accumulate in the sediments. The studies on microbial aromatic degradation in the marine environment have been mainly conducted in nearshore and shallow waters, and the involved microbes are largely bacteria and culturable archaea, while little research has been performed for deep sea or on uncultivated archaea. The presence of petroleum and sedimentary aromatic hydrocarbons in the deep-sea cold seep environment with uncultivated anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) as the dominant microbial community suggested that ANME was involved in the metabolism and utilization of aromatics. This hypothesis was supported by our previous work on the identification of genes, from the metagenome-assembled genome of ANME in the Gulf of Cadiz, encoding the benzoyl CoA ligase and phenylacetyl CoA ligase involved in benzene ring activation in aromatics metabolism. In this proposed project, ANME will be taken as the research object to explore the potential of this deep-sea uncultivated archaea to transform and utilize the aromatic hydrocarbons at levels of genes, cells and communities. These will be conducted by using but not limited to the following means: metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, gene heterologous expression, cultivation of the enriched ANME under a simulative deep-sea environment. The outcome of this study will hopefully help us understand the potential of aromatics metabolism for deep-sea uncultivated archaea and reveal the similarities and differences of catabolic pathways and enzymes between uncultured archaea and terrestrial as well as other marine microbes. Consequentially, it will provide evidences and clues for further demonstration and elucidation of the driving role as well as key mechanisms of uncultivated archaea in the deep-sea organic carbon cycle.