Exploring the abundance, metabolic potential and gene expression of subseafloor Chloroflexi in million-year-old oxic and anoxic abyssal clay.

ABSTRACT: Chloroflexi are widespread in subsurface environments, and recent studies indicate that they represent a major fraction of the communities in subseafloor sediment. Here, we compare the abundance, diversity, metabolic potential and gene expression of Chloroflexi from three abyssal sediment cores from the western North Atlantic Gyre (water depth >5400 m) covering up to 15 million years of sediment deposition, where Chloroflexi were found to represent major components of the community at all sites. Chloroflexi communities die off in oxic red clay over 10-15 million years, and gene expression was below detection. In contrast, Chloroflexi abundance and gene expression at the anoxic abyssal clay site increase below the seafloor and peak in 2-3 million-year-old sediment, indicating a comparably h

SUBMITTER: Vuillemin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7688785 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature