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Phylogenetic evidence of noteworthy microflora from the subsurface of the former Homestake gold mine, Lead, South Dakota.

ABSTRACT: Molecular characterization of subsurface microbial communities in the former Homestake gold mine, South Dakota, was carried out by 16S rDNA sequence analysis using a water sample and a weathered soil-like sample. Geochemical analyses indicated that both samples were high in sulphur, rich in nitrogen and salt, but with significantly different metal concentrations. Microbial diversity comparisons unexpectedly revealed three distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to the archaeal phylum Thaumarchaeota, typically identified from marine environments, and one OTU belonging to a potentially novel phylum that fell sister to Thaumarchaeota. To our knowledge this is only the second report of Thaumarchaeota in a terrestrial environment. The majority of the clones from Archaea sequence libraries fell into two closely related OTUs and were grouped most closely to an ammonia-oxidizing, carbon-fixing and halophilic thaumarchaeote genus, Nitrosopumilus. The two samples showed neither Euryarchaeota nor Crenarchaeota members that have often been identified from other subsurface terrestrial ecosystems. Bacteria OTUs containing the highest percentage of sequences were related to sulphur-oxidizing bacteria of the orders Chromatiales and Thiotrichales. Community members of Bacteria from individual Homestake ecosystems were heterogeneous and distinctive to each community, with unique phylotypes identified within each sample.

SUBMITTER: Waddell EJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3565620 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Phylogenetic evidence of noteworthy microflora from the subsurface of the former Homestake gold mine, Lead, South Dakota.

Waddell E J EJ Elliott T J TJ Vahrenkamp J M JM Roggenthen W M WM Sani R K RK Anderson C M CM Bang S S SS

Environmental technology 20100701 8-9

Molecular characterization of subsurface microbial communities in the former Homestake gold mine, South Dakota, was carried out by 16S rDNA sequence analysis using a water sample and a weathered soil-like sample. Geochemical analyses indicated that both samples were high in sulphur, rich in nitrogen and salt, but with significantly different metal concentrations. Microbial diversity comparisons unexpectedly revealed three distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to the archaeal phyl ...[more]

PMID: 20662386

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Project description:Iron-bearing minerals are key components of the Earth's crust and potentially critical energy sources for subsurface microbial life. The Deep Mine Microbial Observatory (DeMMO) is situated in a range of iron-rich lithologies, and fracture fluids here reach concentrations as high as 8.84 mg/liter. Iron cycling is likely an important process, given the high concentrations of iron in fracture fluids and detection of putative iron-cycling taxa via marker gene surveys. However, a previous metagenomic survey detected no iron cycling potential at two DeMMO localities. Here, we revisited the potential for iron cycling at DeMMO using a new metagenomic data set including all DeMMO sites and FeGenie, a new annotation pipeline that is optimized for the detection of iron cycling genes. We annotated functional genes from whole metagenomic assemblies and metagenome-assembled genomes and characterized putative iron cycling pathways and taxa in the context of local geochemical conditions and available metabolic energy estimated from thermodynamic models. We reannotated previous metagenomic data, revealing iron cycling potential that was previously missed. Across both metagenomic data sets, we found that not only is there genetic potential for iron cycling at DeMMO, but also, iron is likely an important source of energy across the system. In response to the dramatic differences we observed between annotation approaches, we recommend the use of optimized pipelines where the detection of iron cycling genes is a major goal. IMPORTANCE We investigated iron cycling potential among microbial communities inhabiting iron-rich fracture fluids to a depth of 1.5 km in the continental crust. A previous study found no iron cycling potential in the communities despite the iron-rich nature of the system. A new tool for detecting iron cycling genes was recently published, which we used on a new data set. We combined this with a number of other approaches to get a holistic view of metabolic strategies across the communities, revealing iron cycling to be an important process here. In addition, we used the tool on the data from the previous study, revealing previously missed iron cycling potential. Iron is common in continental crust; thus, our findings are likely not unique to our study site. Our new view of important metabolic strategies underscores the importance of choosing optimized tools for detecting the potential for metabolisms like iron cycling that may otherwise be missed.

Dataset Information

Phylogenetic evidence of noteworthy microflora from the subsurface of the former Homestake gold mine, Lead, South Dakota.

Publications

Phylogenetic evidence of noteworthy microflora from the subsurface of the former Homestake gold mine, Lead, South Dakota.

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