ENVnet provides a global molecular resource of dissolved organic matter
Nature Biotechnology, Published online: 21 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41587-026-03230-0 A resource of dissolved organic matter illuminates carbon and microbial life in Earth’s ecosystems.
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a crucial role in Earth's carbon cycle, and its molecular structures have largely remained unsolved. This study introduces ENVnet, a global molecular repository that utilizes tandem mass spectrometry data collected from 13 different environments. By overcoming the challenge of chimeric mass spectra, the researchers generated a comprehensive dataset containing 22,000 distinct molecular features.
Through ENVnet, they discovered conserved and unique patterns in DOM composition, as well as their connection to biogeochemical processes. Moreover, the molecular features in ENVnet were used to create predictive models for assessing DOM persistence, enabling a molecular-level evaluation of microbial turnover in various systems.
The data and workflow related to this study are accessible through MassIVE, GNPS2, and GitHub repositories.
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