Molecular characterization of the microbial community in hydrogenetic ferromanganese crusts of the Takuyo-Daigo Seamount, northwest Pacific

• Published in: FEMS microbiology letters Vol. 321; no. 2; pp. 121 - 129
• Main Authors: Nitahara, Shota, Kato, Shingo, Urabe, Tetsuro, Usui, Akira, Yamagishi, Akihiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-08-2011; Wiley-Blackwell; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: 16S rRNA gene; Ammonia; Archaea; Bacteria; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical analysis; Communities; Comparative analysis; Crenarchaeota; Crusts; DNA, Bacterial - analysis; Ferromanganese; ferromanganese crust; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - microbiology; Iron; Manganese; Marine; Marine ecosystems; microbial ecosystem; Microbiology; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; Miscellaneous; Nitrosospira; Oxidation; Pacific Ocean; Phylogeny; Precipitates; Proteobacteria - classification; Proteobacteria - genetics; Proteobacteria - isolation & purification; Remotely operated vehicles; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - analysis; rRNA 16S; Seamounts; Seawater; Sediment samplers; Sediments; Water analysis; Water Microbiology; Northwest Pacific; Pacific Ocean; INW, Pacific; ferromanganese crust; microbial ecosystem; 16S rRNA gene; Archaeobacteria; Archaea; Ribosomal DNA; 16S-RNA; Bacteria; Microbial community
• ISSN: 0378-1097; 1574-6968
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2011.02323.x

Abstract
The abundance and phylogenetic diversity of the microbial community in the hydrogenetic ferromanganese crust, sandy sediment and overlying seawater were investigated using a culture-independent molecular analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene. These samples were carefully collected from the Takuyo-Daigo Seamount, located in the northwest Pacific Ocean, by a remotely operated vehicle. Based on quantitative PCR analysis, Archaea occupy a significant portion of the prokaryotic communities in the ferromanganese crust and the sediment samples, while Bacteria dominated in the seawater samples. Phylotypes belonging to Gammaproteobacteria and to Marine group I (MGI) Crenarchaeota were abundant in clone libraries constructed from the ferromanganese crust and sediment samples, while those belonging to Alphaproteobacteria were abundant in that from the seawater sample. Comparative analysis indicates that over 80% of the total phylotype richness estimates for the crust community were unique as compared with the sediment and seawater communities. Phylotypes related to Nitrosospira belonging to the Betaproteobacteria and those related to Nitrosopumilus belonging to MGI Crenarchaeota were detected in the ferromanganese crust, suggesting that these ammonia-oxidizing chemolithoautotrophs play a role as primary producers in the microbial ecosystem of hydrogenetic ferromanganese crusts that was formed as precipitates from seawater.