Comparative metagenomics at Solfatara and Pisciarelli hydrothermal systems in Italy reveal that ecological differences across substrates are not ubiquitous
Year: 2023
Authors: Ugwuanyi I.R., Fogel M.L., Bowden R., Steele A., De Natale G., Troise C., Somma R., Piochi M., Mormone A., Glamoclija M.
Autors Affiliation: Rutgers State Univ, Dept Earth & Environm Sci, Newark, NJ 08854 USA; Univ Calif Riverside, EDGE Inst, Riverside, CA USA; Carnegie Inst Sci, Earth & Planets Lab, Washington, DC USA; Osserv Vesuviano, Ist Nazl Geofis & Vulcanol, Naples, Italy; Consiglio Nazl Ric INO, Naples, Italy; Consiglio Nazl Ric IRISS, Naples, Italy.
Abstract: IntroductionContinental hydrothermal systems (CHSs) are geochemically complex, and they support microbial communities that vary across substrates. However, our understanding of these variations across the complete range of substrates in CHS is limited because many previous studies have focused predominantly on aqueous settings. MethodsHere we used metagenomes in the context of their environmental geochemistry to investigate the ecology of different substrates (i.e., water, mud and fumarolic deposits) from Solfatara and Pisciarelli. Results and DiscussionResults indicate that both locations are lithologically similar with distinct fluid geochemistry. In particular, all substrates from Solfatara have similar chemistry whereas Pisciarelli substrates have varying chemistry; with water and mud from bubbling pools exhibiting high SO42- and NH4+ concentrations. Species alpha diversity was found to be different between locations but not across substrates, and pH was shown to be the most important driver of both diversity and microbial community composition. Based on cluster analysis, microbial community structure differed significantly between Pisciarelli substrates but not between Solfatara substrates. Pisciarelli mud pools, were dominated by (hyper)thermophilic archaea, and on average, bacteria dominated Pisciarelli fumarolic deposits and all investigated Solfatara environments. Carbon fixation and sulfur oxidation were the most important metabolic pathways fueled by volcanic outgassing at both locations. Together, results demonstrate that ecological differences across substrates are not a widespread phenomenon but specific to the system. Therefore, this study demonstrates the importance of analyzing different substrates of a CHS to understand the full range of microbial ecology to avoid biased ecological assessments.
Journal/Review: FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
Volume: 14 Pages from: 1066406-1 to: 1066406-16
More Information: We would like to thank Ying Lin at UCR for re-running samples to confirm δ15N values and Ashley E. Murphy for running samples on XRF. We thank the Office of Advanced Research Computing (OARC) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey for providing access to the Amarel cluster and the associated resources that have contributed to the results reported in this manuscript. We thank two reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments which have significantly improved this manuscript.
This research was enabled through the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s support of the Deep Carbon Observatory Deep Earth Carbon Degassing program (DECADE) to MG and Rutgers Faculty Program Start Up. IU was supported by Rutgers University Transform Graduate Fellowship. KeyWords: hydrothermal system; Solfatara; Pisciarelli; microbial diversity; metagenomics; MAGsDOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1066406Citations: 3data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2025-01-12References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)