Ecological Dichotomies Arise in Microbial Communities Due to Mixing of Deep Hydrothermal Waters and Atmospheric Gas in a Circumneutral Hot Spring.

ABSTRACT: Little is known of how the confluence of subsurface and surface processes influences the assembly and habitability of hydrothermal ecosystems. To address this knowledge gap, the geochemical and microbial composition of a high-temperature, circumneutral hot spring in Yellowstone National Park was examined to identify the sources of solutes and their effect on the ecology of microbial inhabitants. Metagenomic analysis showed that populations comprising planktonic and sediment communities are archaeal dominated, are dependent on chemical energy (chemosynthetic), share little overlap in their taxonomic composition, and are differentiated by their inferred use of/tolerance to oxygen and mode of carbon metabolism. The planktonic community is dominated by putative aerobic/aerotolerant autotrophs,

SUBMITTER: Fernandes-Martins MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8579995 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature