Community Structure of Lithotrophically-Driven Hydrothermal Microbial Mats from the Mariana Arc and Back-Arc

Details

• Journal Title:
  Frontiers in Microbiology
• Personal Author:
  Hager, Kevin W. ; Fullerton, Heather ; Butterfield, David A. ; Moyer, Craig L.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory) ; JISAO (Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean)
• Description:
  The Mariana region exhibits a rich array of hydrothermal venting conditions in a complex geological setting, which provides a natural laboratory to study the influence of local environmental conditions on microbial community structure as well as large-scale patterns in microbial biogeography. We used high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the bacterial small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene from 22 microbial mats collected from four hydrothermally active locations along the Mariana Arc and back-arc to explore the structure of lithotrophically-based microbial mat communities. The vent effluent was classified as iron- or sulfur-rich corresponding with two distinct community types, dominated by either Zetaproteobacteria or Epsilonproteobacteria, respectively. The Zetaproteobacterial-based communities had the highest richness and diversity, which supports the hypothesis that Zetaproteobacteria function as ecosystem engineers creating a physical habitat within a chemical environment promoting enhanced microbial diversity. Gammaproteobacteria were also high in abundance within the iron-dominated mats and some likely contribute to primary production. In addition, we also compare sampling scale, showing that bulk sampling of microbial mats yields higher diversity than micro-scale sampling. We present a comprehensive analysis and offer new insights into the community structure and diversity of lithotrophically-driven microbial mats from a hydrothermal region associated with high microbial biodiversity. Our study indicates an important functional role of for the Zetaproteobacteria altering the mat habitat and enhancing community interactions and complexity.
• Keywords:
  Hydrothermal Vents Microbial Communities Hydrothermal Vents Microbial Communities
• Source:
  Front. Microbiol., 28 August 2017
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01578
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  Grant no. NA10OAR4320148
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4c6c62c876367ee53955725d678f157677b787a1b7e7787f132b1bc53d3432d029c45462025b89b5c29a85c01ec5d0c0bb72e065c410d84a49dbbf5c9934887a
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/23784/noaa_23784_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.08 MB ]