Heterogeneity of rock-hosted microbial communities in a serpentinizing aquifer of the Coast Range Ophiolite.

ABSTRACT: The movement of groundwater through fractured bedrock provides favorable conditions for subsurface microbial life, characterized by constrained flow pathways and distinctive local environmental conditions. In this study, we examined a subsurface microbial ecosystem associated with serpentinized rocks recovered from the Coast Range Ophiolite in northern California, USA. The distribution and diversity of microbial communities at various depths within two separate cores reaching up to 45 m below the land surface were investigated with microbiological and geochemical approaches. Core samples contained low total organic carbon content, low DNA yields, and low copy numbers of 16S rRNA genes, yet some samples still yielded amplifiable DNA sequences. The microbial community composition of r

SUBMITTER: Twing KI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11926711 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature