Cultivable microbial community in 2-km-deep, 20-million-year-old subseafloor coalbeds through ~1000 days anaerobic bioreactor cultivation.

ABSTRACT: Recent explorations of scientific ocean drilling have revealed the presence of microbial communities persisting in sediments down to ~2.5 km below the ocean floor. However, our knowledge of these microbial populations in the deep subseafloor sedimentary biosphere remains limited. Here, we present a cultivation experiment of 2-km-deep subseafloor microbial communities in 20-million-year-old lignite coalbeds using a continuous-flow bioreactor operating at 40 °C for 1029 days with lignite particles as the major energy source. Chemical monitoring of effluent samples via fluorescence emission-excitation matrices spectroscopy and stable isotope analyses traced the transformation of coalbed-derived organic matter in the dissolved phase. Hereby, the production of acetate and ¹³C-deplete

SUBMITTER: Imachi H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6381156 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature