Mixing of meteoric and geothermal fluids supports hyperdiverse chemosynthetic hydrothermal communities.

ABSTRACT: Little is known of how mixing of meteoric and geothermal fluids supports biodiversity in non-photosynthetic ecosystems. Here, we use metagenomic sequencing to investigate a chemosynthetic microbial community in a hot spring (SJ3) of Yellowstone National Park that exhibits geochemistry consistent with mixing of a reduced volcanic gas-influenced end member with an oxidized near-surface meteoric end member. SJ3 hosts an exceptionally diverse community with representatives from ~50% of known higher-order archaeal and bacterial lineages, including several divergent deep-branching lineages. A comparison of functional potential with other available chemosynthetic community metagenomes reveals similarly high diversity and functional potentials (i.e., incorporation of electron donors supplied by vo

SUBMITTER: Colman DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6368606 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature