Differential depth distribution of microbial function and putative symbionts through sediment-hosted aquifers in the deep terrestrial subsurface.

ABSTRACT: An enormous diversity of previously unknown bacteria and archaea has been discovered recently, yet their functional capacities and distributions in the terrestrial subsurface remain uncertain. Here, we continually sampled a CO₂-driven geyser (Colorado Plateau, Utah, USA) over its 5-day eruption cycle to test the hypothesis that stratified, sandstone-hosted aquifers sampled over three phases of the eruption cycle have microbial communities that differ both in membership and function. Genome-resolved metagenomics, single-cell genomics and geochemical analyses confirmed this hypothesis and linked microorganisms to groundwater compositions from different depths. Autotrophic Candidatus "Altiarchaeum sp." and phylogenetically deep-branching nanoarchaea dominate the deepest groundwater

SUBMITTER: Probst AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6792436 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature