Dataset Information

Detection of putatively thermophilic anaerobic methanotrophs in diffuse hydrothermal vent fluids.

ABSTRACT: The anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is carried out by a globally distributed group of uncultivated Euryarchaeota, the anaerobic methanotrophic arachaea (ANME). In this work, we used G+C analysis of 16S rRNA genes to identify a putatively thermophilic ANME group and applied newly designed primers to study its distribution in low-temperature diffuse vent fluids from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. We found that the G+C content of the 16S rRNA genes (P(GC)) is significantly higher in the ANME-1GBa group than in other ANME groups. Based on the positive correlation between the P(GC) and optimal growth temperatures (T(opt)) of archaea, we hypothesize that the ANME-1GBa group is adapted to thrive at high temperatures. We designed specific 16S rRNA gene-targeted primers for the ANME-1 cluster to detect all phylogenetic groups within this cluster, including the deeply branching ANME-1GBa group. The primers were successfully tested both in silico and in experiments with sediment samples where ANME-1 phylotypes had previously been detected. The primers were further used to screen for the ANME-1 microorganisms in diffuse vent fluid samples from deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean, and sequences belonging to the ANME-1 cluster were detected in four individual vents. Phylotypes belonging to the ANME-1GBa group dominated in clone libraries from three of these vents. Our findings provide evidence of existence of a putatively extremely thermophilic group of methanotrophic archaea that occur in geographically and geologically distinct marine hydrothermal habitats.

SUBMITTER: Merkel AY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3568577 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Detection of putatively thermophilic anaerobic methanotrophs in diffuse hydrothermal vent fluids.

Merkel Alexander Y AY Huber Julie A JA Chernyh Nikolay A NA Bonch-Osmolovskaya Elizaveta A EA Lebedinsky Alexander V AV

Applied and environmental microbiology 20121126 3

The anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is carried out by a globally distributed group of uncultivated Euryarchaeota, the anaerobic methanotrophic arachaea (ANME). In this work, we used G+C analysis of 16S rRNA genes to identify a putatively thermophilic ANME group and applied newly designed primers to study its distribution in low-temperature diffuse vent fluids from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. We found that the G+C content of the 16S rRNA genes (P(GC)) is significantly higher in the ANME-1GB ...[more]

PMID: 23183981

Similar Datasets

Project description:In the ocean, viruses impact microbial mortality, regulate biogeochemical cycling, and alter the metabolic potential of microbial lineages. At deep-sea hydrothermal vents, abundant viruses infect a wide range of hosts among the archaea and bacteria that inhabit these dynamic habitats. However, little is known about viral diversity, host range, and biogeography across different vent ecosystems, which has important implications for how viruses manipulate microbial function and evolution. Here, we examined viral diversity, viral and host distribution, and virus-host interactions in microbial metagenomes generated from venting fluids from several vent sites within three different geochemically and geographically distinct hydrothermal systems: Piccard and Von Damm vent fields at the Mid-Cayman Rise in the Caribbean Sea, and at several vent sites within Axial Seamount in the Pacific Ocean. Analysis of viral sequences and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) spacers revealed highly diverse viral assemblages and evidence of active infection. Network analysis revealed that viral host range was relatively narrow, with very few viruses infecting multiple microbial lineages. Viruses were largely endemic to individual vent sites, indicating restricted dispersal, and in some cases, viral assemblages persisted over time. Thus, we show that hydrothermal vent fluids are home to novel, diverse viral assemblages that are highly localized to specific regions and taxa. IMPORTANCE Viruses play important roles in manipulating microbial communities and their evolution in the ocean, yet not much is known about viruses in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. However, viral ecology and evolution are of particular interest in hydrothermal vent habitats because of their unique nature: previous studies have indicated that most viruses in hydrothermal vents are temperate rather than lytic, and it has been established that rates of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) are particularly high among thermophilic vent microbes, and viruses are common vectors for HGT. If viruses have broad host range or are widespread across vent sites, they have increased potential to act as gene-sharing "highways" between vent sites. By examining viral diversity, distribution, and infection networks across disparate vent sites, this study provides the opportunity to better characterize and constrain the viral impact on hydrothermal vent microbial communities. We show that viruses in hydrothermal vents are diverse and apparently active, but most have restricted host range and are not widely distributed among vent sites. Thus, the impacts of viral infection are likely to be highly localized and constrained to specific taxa in these habitats.

Project description:Hydrothermal vents differ both in surface input and subsurface geochemistry. The effects of these differences on their microbial communities are not clear. Here, we investigated both alpha and beta diversity of diffuse flow-associated microbial communities emanating from vents at a basalt-based hydrothermal system along the East Pacific Rise (EPR) and a sediment-based hydrothermal system, Guaymas Basin. Both Bacteria and Archaea were targeted using high throughput 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing analyses. A unique aspect of this study was the use of a universal set of 16S rRNA gene primers to characterize total and diffuse flow-specific microbial communities from varied deep-sea hydrothermal environments. Both surrounding seawater and diffuse flow water samples contained large numbers of Marine Group I (MGI) Thaumarchaea and Gammaproteobacteria taxa previously observed in deep-sea systems. However, these taxa were geographically distinct and segregated according to type of spreading center. Diffuse flow microbial community profiles were highly differentiated. In particular, EPR dominant diffuse flow taxa were most closely associated with chemolithoautotrophs, and off axis water was dominated by heterotrophic-related taxa, whereas the opposite was true for Guaymas Basin. The diversity and richness of diffuse flow-specific microbial communities were strongly correlated to the relative abundance of Epsilonproteobacteria, proximity to macrofauna, and hydrothermal system type. Archaeal diversity was higher than or equivalent to bacterial diversity in about one third of the samples. Most diffuse flow-specific communities were dominated by OTUs associated with Epsilonproteobacteria, but many of the Guaymas Basin diffuse flow samples were dominated by either OTUs within the Planctomycetes or hyperthermophilic Archaea. This study emphasizes the unique microbial communities associated with geochemically and geographically distinct hydrothermal diffuse flow environments.

Dataset Information

Detection of putatively thermophilic anaerobic methanotrophs in diffuse hydrothermal vent fluids.

Publications

Detection of putatively thermophilic anaerobic methanotrophs in diffuse hydrothermal vent fluids.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure