Interactions between temperature and energy supply drive microbial communities in hydrothermal sediment
Abstract
Temperature and bioavailable energy control the distribution of life on Earth, and interact with each other due to the dependency of biological energy requirements on temperature. Here we analyze how temperature-energy interactions structure sediment microbial communities in two hydrothermally active areas of Guaymas Basin. Sites from one area experience advective input of thermogenically produced electron donors by seepage from deeper layers, whereas sites from the other area are diffusion-dominated and electron donor-depleted. In both locations, Archaea dominate at temperatures >45 °C and Bacteria at temperatures <10 °C. Yet, at the phylum level and below, there are clear differences. Hot seep sites have high proportions of typical hydrothermal vent and hot spring taxa. By contrast, high-temperature sites without seepage harbor mainly novel taxa belonging to phyla that are widespread in cold subseafloor sediment. Our results suggest that in hydrothermal sediments temperature determines domain-level dominance, whereas temperature-energy interactions structure microbial communities at the phylum-level and below. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000504131Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
Communications BiologyVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
NatureSubject
Microbial ecology; Soil microbiologyOrganisational unit
09496 - Lever, Mark A. (ehemalig) / Lever, Mark A. (former)
08806 - Bernasconi, Stefano (Tit.-Prof.)
09601 - Stoll, Heather / Stoll, Heather
More
Show all metadata