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Title: Ecological Dichotomies Arise in Microbial Communities Due to Mixing of Deep Hydrothermal Waters and Atmospheric Gas in a Circumneutral Hot Spring

Journal Article · · Applied and Environmental Microbiology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01598-21· OSTI ID:1829762
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  1. Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
  2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
  4. School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Little is known of how the confluence of subsurface and surface processes influences the assembly and habitability of hydrothermal ecosystems. To address this knowledge gap, the geochemical and microbial composition of a high-temperature, circumneutral hot spring in Yellowstone National Park was examined to identify the sources of solutes and their effect on the ecology of microbial inhabitants. Metagenomic analysis showed that populations comprising planktonic and sediment communities are archaeal dominated, are dependent on chemical energy (chemosynthetic), share little overlap in their taxonomic composition, and are differentiated by their inferred use of/tolerance to oxygen and mode of carbon metabolism. The planktonic community is dominated by putative aerobic/aerotolerant autotrophs, while the taxonomic composition of the sediment community is more evenly distributed and comprised of anaerobic heterotrophs. These observations are interpreted to reflect sourcing of the spring by anoxic, organic carbon-limited subsurface hydrothermal fluids and ingassing of atmospheric oxygen that selects for aerobic/aerotolerant organisms that have autotrophic capabilities in the water column. Autotrophy and consumption of oxygen by the planktonic community may influence the assembly of the anaerobic and heterotrophic sediment community. Support for this inference comes from higher estimated rates of genome replication in planktonic populations than sediment populations, indicating faster growth in planktonic populations. Collectively, these observations provide new insight into how mixing of subsurface waters and atmospheric oxygen create dichotomy in the ecology of hot spring communities and suggest that planktonic and sediment communities may have been less differentiated taxonomically and functionally prior to the rise of oxygen at ~2.4 billion years ago (Gya).

Research Organization:
USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Berkeley, CA (United States); Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
CSP 504081; AC02-05CH11231; EAR-1820658
OSTI ID:
1829762
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1904073
Journal Information:
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Journal Name: Applied and Environmental Microbiology Vol. 87 Journal Issue: 23; ISSN 0099-2240
Publisher:
American Society for MicrobiologyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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