Metatranscriptomes Reveal That All Three Domains of Life Are Active but Are Dominated by Bacteria in the Fennoscandian Crystalline Granitic Continental Deep Biosphere.

ABSTRACT: The continental subsurface is suggested to contain a significant part of the earth's total biomass. However, due to the difficulty of sampling, the deep subsurface is still one of the least understood ecosystems. Therefore, microorganisms inhabiting this environment might profoundly influence the global nutrient and energy cycles. In this study, in situ fixed RNA transcripts from two deep continental groundwaters from the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (a Baltic Sea-influenced water with a residence time of <20 years, defined as "modern marine," and an "old saline" groundwater with a residence time of thousands of years) were subjected to metatranscriptome sequencing. Although small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene and mRNA transcripts aligned to all three domains of life, supporting activity wit

SUBMITTER: Lopez-Fernandez M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6247080 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature