Microbial communities and metabolic functions vary with spatial heterogeneity in cold-seep carbonates.

ABSTRACT: Cold-seep carbonates, formed through interactions among methane, fluid chemistry, and microbial chemosynthesis, represent biodiversity hotspots in the deep sea. Spatial heterogeneity within these carbonates arises from variations in methane flux, yet the microbial contributions to this heterogeneity remain underexplored. Here we combined remotely operated vehicle-based in situ measurements, X-ray imaging, metagenomics, qPCR, and ¹³C-CH₄ stable-isotope labeling to investigate microbial communities across carbonate habitats in the South China Sea. We found that methane flux linked to carbonate structural properties, shapes microbial metabolic interactions, notably anaerobic methane oxidation coupled with aragonite and FeS precipitation. These processes may contri

SUBMITTER: Ma M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12753302 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature