Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 529-542 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | ISME Journal |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Oct 2016 |
Abstract
Subseafloor microbes beneath active hydrothermal vents are thought to live near the upper temperature limit for life on Earth. We drilled and cored the Iheya North hydrothermal field in the Mid-Okinawa Trough, and examined the phylogenetic compositions and the products of metabolic functions of sub-vent microbial communities. We detected microbial cells, metabolic activities and molecular signatures only in the shallow sediments down to 15.8 m below the seafloor at a moderately distant drilling site from the active hydrothermal vents (450 m). At the drilling site, the profiles of methane and sulfate concentrations and the δ 13 C and δD isotopic compositions of methane suggested the laterally flowing hydrothermal fluids and the in situ microbial anaerobic methane oxidation. In situ measurements during the drilling constrain the current bottom temperature of the microbially habitable zone to ∼45 °C. However, in the past, higher temperatures of 106-198 °C were possible at the depth, as estimated from geochemical thermometry on hydrothermally altered clay minerals. The 16S rRNA gene phylotypes found in the deepest habitable zone are related to those of thermophiles, although sequences typical of known hyperthermophilic microbes were absent from the entire core. Overall our results shed new light on the distribution and composition of the boundary microbial community close to the high-temperature limit for habitability in the subseafloor environment of a hydrothermal field.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Microbiology(all)
- Microbiology
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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In: ISME Journal, Vol. 11, No. 2, 18.10.2016, p. 529-542.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Defining boundaries for the distribution of microbial communities beneath the sediment-buried, hydrothermally active seafloor
AU - Yanagawa, Katsunori
AU - Ijiri, Akira
AU - Breuker, Anja
AU - Sakai, Sanae
AU - Miyoshi, Youko
AU - Kawagucci, Shinsuke
AU - Noguchi, Takuroh
AU - Hirai, Miho
AU - Schippers, Axel
AU - Ishibashi, Jun Ichiro
AU - Takaki, Yoshihiro
AU - Sunamura, Michinari
AU - Urabe, Tetsuro
AU - Nunoura, Takuro
AU - Takai, Ken
PY - 2016/10/18
Y1 - 2016/10/18
N2 - Subseafloor microbes beneath active hydrothermal vents are thought to live near the upper temperature limit for life on Earth. We drilled and cored the Iheya North hydrothermal field in the Mid-Okinawa Trough, and examined the phylogenetic compositions and the products of metabolic functions of sub-vent microbial communities. We detected microbial cells, metabolic activities and molecular signatures only in the shallow sediments down to 15.8 m below the seafloor at a moderately distant drilling site from the active hydrothermal vents (450 m). At the drilling site, the profiles of methane and sulfate concentrations and the δ 13 C and δD isotopic compositions of methane suggested the laterally flowing hydrothermal fluids and the in situ microbial anaerobic methane oxidation. In situ measurements during the drilling constrain the current bottom temperature of the microbially habitable zone to ∼45 °C. However, in the past, higher temperatures of 106-198 °C were possible at the depth, as estimated from geochemical thermometry on hydrothermally altered clay minerals. The 16S rRNA gene phylotypes found in the deepest habitable zone are related to those of thermophiles, although sequences typical of known hyperthermophilic microbes were absent from the entire core. Overall our results shed new light on the distribution and composition of the boundary microbial community close to the high-temperature limit for habitability in the subseafloor environment of a hydrothermal field.
AB - Subseafloor microbes beneath active hydrothermal vents are thought to live near the upper temperature limit for life on Earth. We drilled and cored the Iheya North hydrothermal field in the Mid-Okinawa Trough, and examined the phylogenetic compositions and the products of metabolic functions of sub-vent microbial communities. We detected microbial cells, metabolic activities and molecular signatures only in the shallow sediments down to 15.8 m below the seafloor at a moderately distant drilling site from the active hydrothermal vents (450 m). At the drilling site, the profiles of methane and sulfate concentrations and the δ 13 C and δD isotopic compositions of methane suggested the laterally flowing hydrothermal fluids and the in situ microbial anaerobic methane oxidation. In situ measurements during the drilling constrain the current bottom temperature of the microbially habitable zone to ∼45 °C. However, in the past, higher temperatures of 106-198 °C were possible at the depth, as estimated from geochemical thermometry on hydrothermally altered clay minerals. The 16S rRNA gene phylotypes found in the deepest habitable zone are related to those of thermophiles, although sequences typical of known hyperthermophilic microbes were absent from the entire core. Overall our results shed new light on the distribution and composition of the boundary microbial community close to the high-temperature limit for habitability in the subseafloor environment of a hydrothermal field.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84991666926&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/ismej.2016.119
DO - 10.1038/ismej.2016.119
M3 - Article
C2 - 27754478
AN - SCOPUS:84991666926
VL - 11
SP - 529
EP - 542
JO - ISME Journal
JF - ISME Journal
SN - 1751-7362
IS - 2
ER -