Epilithic Microbial Community Functionality in Deep Oligotrophic Continental Bedrock.

ABSTRACT: The deep terrestrial biosphere hosts vast sessile rock surface communities and biofilms, but thus far, mostly planktic communities have been studied. We enriched deep subsurface microbial communities on mica schist in microcosms containing bedrock groundwater from the depth of 500 m from Outokumpu, Finland. The biofilms were visualized using scanning electron microscopy, revealing numerous different microbial cell morphologies and attachment strategies on the mica schist surface, e.g., bacteria with outer membrane vesicle-like structures, hair-like extracellular extensions, and long tubular cell structures expanding over hundreds of micrometers over mica schist surfaces. Bacterial communities were analyzed with amplicon sequencing showing that Pseudomonas, Desulfosporosinus, Hydr

SUBMITTER: Nuppunen-Puputti M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8921683 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature