| Title | Primary producing prokaryotic communities of brine, interface and seawater above the halocline of deep anoxic lake L'Atalante, Eastern Mediterranean Sea |
| Abstract | Meso- and bathypelagic ecosystems represent the most common marine ecological niche on Earth and contain complex communities of microorganisms that are for the most part ecophysiologically poorly characterized. Gradients of physico-chemical factors (for example, depth-related gradients of light, temperature, salinity, nutrients and pressure) constitute major forces shaping ecosystems at activity 'hot spots' on the ocean floor, such as hydrothermal vents, cold seepages and mud volcanoes and hypersaline lakes, though the relationships between community composition, activities and environmental parameters remain largely elusive. We report here results of a detailed study of primary producing microbial communities in the deep Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The brine column of the deep anoxic hypersaline brine lake, L'Atalante, the overlying water column and the brine-seawater interface, were characterized physico- and geochemically, and microbiologically, in terms of their microbial community compositions, functional gene distributions and [14C]bicarbonate assimilation activities. The depth distribution of genes encoding the crenarchaeal ammonia monooxygenase subunit (amoA), and the bacterial ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (RuBisCO), was found to coincide with two different types of chemoautotrophy. Meso- and bathypelagic microbial communities were enriched in ammonia-oxidizing Crenarchaeota, whereas the autotrophic community at the oxic/anoxic interface of L'Atalante lake was dominated by Epsilonproteobacteria and sulfur-oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria. These autotrophic microbes are thus the basis of the food webs populating these deep-sea ecosystems. |
| Source | The ISME journal (Print) 1, pp. 743–755 |
| Keywords | deep-sea hypersaline anoxic lakesdark deep-sea chemoautotrophymarine Crenarchaeotabicarbonate assimilation activity |
| Journal | The ISME journal (Print) |
| Editor | Nature Publishing Group,, London, Regno Unito |
| Year | 2007 |
| Type | Articolo in rivista |
| DOI | 10.1038/ismej.2007.83 |
| Authors | Yakimov, M.M., La Cono, V., Denaro, R., D'Auria, Decembrini, F., Timmis, K.N., Golyshin, P.G. and Giuliano L. |
| Text | 6551 2007 10.1038/ismej.2007.83 PubMed 18059497 deep sea hypersaline anoxic lakes dark deep sea chemoautotrophy marine Crenarchaeota bicarbonate assimilation activity Primary producing prokaryotic communities of brine, interface and seawater above the halocline of deep anoxic lake L Atalante, Eastern Mediterranean Sea Yakimov, M.M., La Cono, V., Denaro, R., D Auria, Decembrini, F., Timmis, K.N., Golyshin, P.G. and Giuliano L. Istituto per l Ambiente Marino Costiero CNR School of Biological Sciences, University of Bangor, Wales, UK Mediterranean Science Commission, CIESM, Monte Carlo, Monaco Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, HZI Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany Meso and bathypelagic ecosystems represent the most common marine ecological niche on Earth and contain complex communities of microorganisms that are for the most part ecophysiologically poorly characterized. Gradients of physico chemical factors for example, depth related gradients of light, temperature, salinity, nutrients and pressure constitute major forces shaping ecosystems at activity hot spots on the ocean floor, such as hydrothermal vents, cold seepages and mud volcanoes and hypersaline lakes, though the relationships between community composition, activities and environmental parameters remain largely elusive. We report here results of a detailed study of primary producing microbial communities in the deep Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The brine column of the deep anoxic hypersaline brine lake, L Atalante, the overlying water column and the brine seawater interface, were characterized physico and geochemically, and microbiologically, in terms of their microbial community compositions, functional gene distributions and 14C bicarbonate assimilation activities. The depth distribution of genes encoding the crenarchaeal ammonia monooxygenase subunit amoA , and the bacterial ribulose 1,5 biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit RuBisCO , was found to coincide with two different types of chemoautotrophy. Meso and bathypelagic microbial communities were enriched in ammonia oxidizing Crenarchaeota, whereas the autotrophic community at the oxic/anoxic interface of L Atalante lake was dominated by Epsilonproteobacteria and sulfur oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria. These autotrophic microbes are thus the basis of the food webs populating these deep sea ecosystems. 1 Primary producing prokaryotic communities of brine, interface and seawater above the halocline of deep anoxic lake L Atalante, Eastern Mediterranean Sea ismej200783a.pdf Articolo in rivista Nature Publishing Group, 1751 7362 The ISME journal Print The ISME journal Print ISME j. Print The ISME journal Print International Society for Microbial Ecology journal Print franco.decembrini DECEMBRINI FRANCO laura.giuliano GIULIANO LAURA mikhail.iakimov IAKIMOV MIKHAIL renata.denaro DENARO RENATA TA.P04.026.001 Microbiologia Marina Molecolare e Biotecnologie |
