Phylogenetic diversity of nitrogenase (nifH) genes in deep-sea and hydrothermal vent environments of the Juan de Fuca Ridge.

ABSTRACT: The subseafloor microbial habitat associated with typical unsedimented mid-ocean-ridge hydrothermal vent ecosystems may be limited by the availability of fixed nitrogen, inferred by the low ammonium and nitrate concentrations measured in diffuse hydrothermal fluid. Dissolved N2 gas, the largest reservoir of nitrogen in the ocean, is abundant in deep-sea and hydrothermal vent fluid. In order to test the hypothesis that biological nitrogen fixation plays an important role in nitrogen cycling in the subseafloor associated with unsedimented hydrothermal vents, degenerate PCR primers were designed to amplify the nitrogenase iron protein gene nifH from hydrothermal vent fluid. A total of 120 nifH sequences were obtained from four samples: a nitrogen-poor diffuse vent named marker 33 on Axial Vol

SUBMITTER: Mehta MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC143675 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature