Archaeal Communities in Deep Terrestrial Subsurface Underneath the Deccan Traps, India.

ABSTRACT: Archaeal community structure and potential functions within the deep, aphotic, oligotrophic, hot, igneous provinces of ∼65 Myr old basalt and its Archean granitic basement was explored through archaeal 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing from extracted environmental DNA of rocks. Rock core samples from three distinct horizons, basaltic (BS), transition (weathered granites) (TZ) and granitic (GR) showed limited organic carbon (4-48 mg/kg) and varied concentrations (<1.0-5000 mg/kg) of sulfate, nitrate, nitrite, iron and metal oxides. Quantitative PCR estimated the presence of nearly 10³-10⁴ archaeal cells per gram of rock. Archaeal communities within BS and GR horizons were distinct. The absence of any common OTU across the samples indicated restricted dispersal of archa

SUBMITTER: Dutta A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6646420 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature