South America ocean sampling day: exploring the coastal ocean microbiome (SACOM-OSD)

• Grant number: 24/10815-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Biological Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Hugo Miguel Preto de Morais Sarmento
• Grantee: Hugo Miguel Preto de Morais Sarmento
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Camila Negrão Signori ; Renata Cristina Picão

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems serve as ecotones, bridging terrestrial habitats with marine environments, creating a vital interface where land and sea meet and interact. These ecosystems host high levels of biodiversity and productivity, partly due to the dynamic interactions within the microbial communities inhabiting them. Indeed, the coastal marine microbiome plays pivotal roles in nutrient recycling, carbon fixation, and the decomposition of organic matter and pollutants. However, coastal systems face unprecedented challenges due to human activities, including climate change, pollution, excessive nutrient input, overfishing, habitat destruction, and the introduction of invasive species. SACOM-OSD aims to study the coastal marine microbiome and its interplay with environmental drivers through a synchronized research campaign, involving collaborative sampling of the marine coastal microbiome for DNA sequencing and imaging analysis, using standardized protocols on a continental scale. The results obtained from SACOM-OSD will have strategic importance in expanding our understanding of coastal microbiomes, assessing the impacts of multiple stressors on ecosystem dynamics, enhancing monitoring capacity and aiding in the adoption of new conservation and sustainability practices. The simultaneous and standardized approach employed by SACOM-OSD, will enable building a network at a continental scale of research groups that will incorporate metagenomic sequence data into their ongoing research activities. Additionally, a fundamental pillar of SACOM-OSD is to engage local communities and schools in activities to raise awareness about the crucial role of microbiomes and oceans. Finally, SACOM-OSD is aligned with other initiatives of the UN-declared Decade of Ocean Science and will be a concrete action to develop "the science we need for the ocean we want.". (AU)