Functional metagenomic investigations of microbial communities in a shallow-sea hydrothermal system

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 8; p. e72958
• Main Authors: Tang, Kai, Liu, Keshao, Jiao, Nianzhi, Zhang, Yao, Chen, Chen-Tung Arthur
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 06-08-2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Analysis; Bacteria; Biodiversity; Bioinformatics; Carbon; Carbon Cycle; Carbon dioxide; Carbon fixation; Communities; Ecosystem; Ecosystems; Environmental science; Epsilonproteobacteria; Extreme environments; Fixation; Gammaproteobacteria; Genes; Genes, Bacterial; Geochemistry; Hydrogen; Hydrogen-based energy; Hydrothermal systems; Hydrothermal systems (Geology); Hydrothermal Vents - microbiology; Investigations; Laboratories; Metabolism; Metabolome; Metagenome - physiology; Metagenomics - methods; Microbial activity; Microbial Consortia - genetics; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; Multivariate analysis; Oceans and Seas; Seawater - microbiology; Signal transduction; Studies; Sulfur; Sulfur - metabolism; Sulfur compounds; Surface water; Tricarboxylic acid cycle; Water depth; Water resources; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072958

Little is known about the functional capability of microbial communities in shallow-sea hydrothermal systems (water depth of <200 m). This study analyzed two high-throughput pyrosequencing metagenomic datasets from the vent and the surface water in the shallow-sea hydrothermal system offshore NE Taiwan. This system exhibited distinct geochemical parameters. Metagenomic data revealed that the vent and the surface water were predominated by Epsilonproteobacteria (Nautiliales-like organisms) and Gammaproteobacteria (Thiomicrospira-like organisms), respectively. A significant difference in microbial carbon fixation and sulfur metabolism was found between the vent and the surface water. The chemoautotrophic microorganisms in the vent and in the surface water might possess the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle and the Calvin-Bassham-Benson cycle for carbon fixation in response to carbon dioxide highly enriched in the environment, which is possibly fueled by geochemical energy with sulfur and hydrogen. Comparative analyses of metagenomes showed that the shallow-sea metagenomes contained some genes similar to those present in other extreme environments. This study may serve as a basis for deeply understanding the genetic network and functional capability of the microbial members of shallow-sea hydrothermal systems.