Publication Date
12-1-2024
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Communications Earth and Environment
Volume
5
Issue
1
DOI
10.1038/s43247-024-01662-7
Abstract
Environmental factors shape subsurface microbial ecosystems, and well-characterized sites are ideal for determining how environmental parameters shape sediment communities. Sediments from eight geologically and thermally distinct sites were drilled during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 385 in Guaymas Basin, an expedition focused on the hydrothermal deep biosphere. Using high-throughput 16S ribosomal nucleic acid sequencing, cell counts, phylogenetics, metatranscriptomics, and mineralogical/elemental X-ray spectroscopy, we examine linkages and feedbacks between mineral composition, temperature, geochemistry, and microbial populations. We show subsurface life is dominated by heterotrophic, cosmopolitan prokaryotes that thrive within a range of sediments and temperature conditions across Guaymas Basin. Hydrothermally-affiliated lineages are detected in low numbers at sites with steepest temperature gradients, within communities of mesophilic taxa that occur throughout Guaymas Basin and in other marine subsurface habitats. Thus, hydrothermal lineages do not replace the cosmopolitan, mesophilic subsurface community, but remain specific to sites where volcanic intrusions drive hydrothermal circulation.
Funding Number
OCE-2046799
Funding Sponsor
National Science Foundation
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Department
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Recommended Citation
Paraskevi Mara, David Beaudoin, Ivano Aiello, Yuki Morono, David Geller-McGrath, Virginia P. Edgcomb, and Andreas Teske. "Deep subseafloor sediments in Guaymas Basin harbor cosmopolitan microbiota and traces of hydrothermal populations" Communications Earth and Environment (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01662-7
