Title Microbial Diversity of a Sulfide Black Smoker in Main Endeavour Hydrothermal Vent Field, Juan de Fuca Ridge
Author Huaiyang Zhou1,2, Jiangtao Li1,2*, Xiaotong Peng2, Jun Meng3, Fengping Wang3, and Yuncan Ai4
Address 1Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, P. R. China, 2State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China, 3Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, SOA, Xiamen 361005, P. R. China, 4State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, P. R. China
Bibliography Journal of Microbiology, 47(3),235-247, 2009,
DOI
Key Words Dudley, hydrothermal chimney, microbial diversity, sulfur-related metabolism
Abstract Submarine hydrothermal vents are among the least-understood habitats on Earth but have been the intense focus of research in the past 30 years. An active hydrothermal sulfide chimney collected from the Dudley site in the Main Endeavour vent Field (MEF) of Juan de Fuca Ridge was investigated using mineralogical and molecular approaches. Mineral analysis indicated that the chimney was composed mainly of Fe-, Zn- and Cu-rich sulfides. According to phylogenetic analysis, within the Crenarchaeota, clones of the order Desulfurococcales predominated, comprising nearly 50% of archaeal clones. Euryarchaeota were composed mainly of clones belonging to Thermococcales and deep-sea hydrothermal vent Euryarchaeota (DHVE), each of which accounted for about 20% of all clones. Thermophilic or hyperthermophilic physiologies were common to the predominant archaeal groups. More than half of bacterial clones belonged to ε-Proteobacteria, which confirmed their prevalence in hydrothermal vent environments. Clones of Proteobacteria (γ-, δ-, β-), Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) and Deinococcus-Thermus occurred as well. It was remarkable that methanogens and methanotrophs were not detected in our 16S rRNA gene library. Our results indicated that sulfur-related metabolism, which included sulfur-reducing activity carried out by thermophilic archaea and sulfur-oxidizing by mesophilic bacteria, was common and crucial to the vent ecosystem in Dudley hydrothermal site.