Copper-Nanocoated Ultra-Small Cells in Grain Boundaries Inside an Extinct Vent Chimney.

ABSTRACT: Chemosynthetic organisms flourish around deep-sea hydrothermal vents where energy-rich fluids are emitted from metal sulfide chimneys. However, microbial life hosted in mineral assemblages in extinct chimneys lacking fluid venting remains largely unknown. The interior of extinct chimneys remains anoxic where the percolation of oxygenated seawater is limited within tightly packed metal sulfide grains. Given the scarcity of photosynthetic organics in deep seawater, anaerobic microbes might inhabit the grain boundaries energetically depending on substrates derived from rock-water interactions. In this study, we reported ultra-small cells directly visualized in grain boundaries of CuFeS₂ inside an extinct metal sulfide chimney from the southern Mariana Trough. Nanoscale solid analys

SUBMITTER: Takamiya H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9209642 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature