Distinct Depth-Discrete Profiles of Microbial Communities and Geochemical Insights in the Subsurface Critical Zone

Wu, Xiaoqin; Gushgari-Doyle, Sara; Lui, Lauren M.; Hendrickson, Andrew J.; Liu, Yina; Jagadamma, Sindhu; Nielsen, Torben N.; Justice, Nicholas B.; Simmons, Tuesday; Hess, Nancy J.; Joyner, Dominique C.; Hazen, Terry C.; Arkin, Adam P.; Chakraborty, Romy

doi:10.1128/aem.00500-23

Distinct Depth-Discrete Profiles of Microbial Communities and Geochemical Insights in the Subsurface Critical Zone

Journal Article · 05 June 2023 · Applied and Environmental Microbiology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00500-23· OSTI ID:1984328

Wu, Xiaoqin ^[1]; Gushgari-Doyle, Sara ^[1]; Lui, Lauren M. ^[1]; Hendrickson, Andrew J. ^[1]; Liu, Yina ^[2]; Jagadamma, Sindhu ^[3]; Nielsen, Torben N. ^[1]; Justice, Nicholas B. ^[1]; Simmons, Tuesday ^[4]; Hess, Nancy J. ^[5]; Joyner, Dominique C. ^[3]; ^[6]; Arkin, Adam P. ^[7]; ^[1]

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Microbial assembly and metabolic potential in the subsurface critical zone (SCZ) are substantially impacted by subsurface geochemistry and hydrogeology, selecting for microbes distinct from those in surficial soils. In this study, we integrated metagenomics and geochemistry to elucidate how microbial composition and metabolic potential are shaped and impacted by vertical variations in geochemistry and hydrogeology in terrestrial subsurface sediment. A sediment core from an uncontaminated, pristine well at Oak Ridge Field Research Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, including the shallow subsurface, vadose zone, capillary fringe, and saturated zone, was used in this study. Our results showed that subsurface microbes were highly localized and that communities were rarely interconnected. Microbial community composition as well as metabolic potential in carbon and nitrogen cycling varied even over short vertical distances. Further analyses indicated a strong depth-related covariation of community composition with a subset of 12 environmental variables. An analysis of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) quality via ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry suggested that the SCZ was generally a low-carbon environment, with the relative portion of labile DOC decreasing and that of recalcitrant DOC increasing along the depth, selecting microbes from copiotrophs to oligotrophs and also impacting the microbial metabolic potential in the carbon cycle. Our study demonstrates that sediment geochemistry and hydrogeology are vital in the selection of distinct microbial populations and metabolism in the SCZ.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1984328

Journal Information:: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Journal Name: Applied and Environmental Microbiology Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 89; ISSN 0099-2240

Publisher:: American Society for MicrobiologyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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