Relationship of Bacterial Richness to Organic Degradation Rate and Sediment Age in Subseafloor Sediment
ABSTRACT Subseafloor sediment hosts a large, taxonomically rich, and metabolically diverse microbial ecosystem. However, the factors that control microbial diversity in subseafloor sediment have rarely been explored. Here, we show that bacterial richness varies with organic degradation rate and sedi...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.00809-16 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/AEM.00809-16 |
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crasmicro:10.1128/aem.00809-16 2024-09-15T17:59:38+00:00 Relationship of Bacterial Richness to Organic Degradation Rate and Sediment Age in Subseafloor Sediment Walsh, Emily A. Kirkpatrick, John B. Pockalny, Robert Sauvage, Justine Spivack, Arthur J. Murray, Richard W. Sogin, Mitchell L. D'Hondt, Steven Spormann, A. M. Sloan Foundation U.S. Science Support Program for IODP National Science Foundation 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.00809-16 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/AEM.00809-16 en eng American Society for Microbiology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://journals.asm.org/non-commercial-tdm-license Applied and Environmental Microbiology volume 82, issue 16, page 4994-4999 ISSN 0099-2240 1098-5336 journal-article 2016 crasmicro https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00809-16 2024-08-26T04:06:44Z ABSTRACT Subseafloor sediment hosts a large, taxonomically rich, and metabolically diverse microbial ecosystem. However, the factors that control microbial diversity in subseafloor sediment have rarely been explored. Here, we show that bacterial richness varies with organic degradation rate and sediment age. At three open-ocean sites (in the Bering Sea and equatorial Pacific) and one continental margin site (Indian Ocean), richness decreases exponentially with increasing sediment depth. The rate of decrease in richness with increasing depth varies from site to site. The vertical succession of predominant terminal electron acceptors correlates with abundance-weighted community composition but does not drive the vertical decrease in richness. Vertical patterns of richness at the open-ocean sites closely match organic degradation rates; both properties are highest near the seafloor and decline together as sediment depth increases. This relationship suggests that (i) total catabolic activity and/or electron donor diversity exerts a primary influence on bacterial richness in marine sediment and (ii) many bacterial taxa that are poorly adapted for subseafloor sedimentary conditions are degraded in the geologically young sediment, where respiration rates are high. Richness consistently takes a few hundred thousand years to decline from near-seafloor values to much lower values in deep anoxic subseafloor sediment, regardless of sedimentation rate, predominant terminal electron acceptor, or oceanographic context. IMPORTANCE Subseafloor sediment provides a wonderful opportunity to investigate the drivers of microbial diversity in communities that may have been isolated for millions of years. Our paper shows the impact of in situ conditions on bacterial community structure in subseafloor sediment. Specifically, it shows that bacterial richness in subseafloor sediment declines exponentially with sediment age, and in parallel with organic-fueled oxidation rate. This result suggests that subseafloor diversity ultimately ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Bering Sea ASM Journals (American Society for Microbiology) Applied and Environmental Microbiology 82 16 4994 4999 |
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ASM Journals (American Society for Microbiology) |
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crasmicro |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT Subseafloor sediment hosts a large, taxonomically rich, and metabolically diverse microbial ecosystem. However, the factors that control microbial diversity in subseafloor sediment have rarely been explored. Here, we show that bacterial richness varies with organic degradation rate and sediment age. At three open-ocean sites (in the Bering Sea and equatorial Pacific) and one continental margin site (Indian Ocean), richness decreases exponentially with increasing sediment depth. The rate of decrease in richness with increasing depth varies from site to site. The vertical succession of predominant terminal electron acceptors correlates with abundance-weighted community composition but does not drive the vertical decrease in richness. Vertical patterns of richness at the open-ocean sites closely match organic degradation rates; both properties are highest near the seafloor and decline together as sediment depth increases. This relationship suggests that (i) total catabolic activity and/or electron donor diversity exerts a primary influence on bacterial richness in marine sediment and (ii) many bacterial taxa that are poorly adapted for subseafloor sedimentary conditions are degraded in the geologically young sediment, where respiration rates are high. Richness consistently takes a few hundred thousand years to decline from near-seafloor values to much lower values in deep anoxic subseafloor sediment, regardless of sedimentation rate, predominant terminal electron acceptor, or oceanographic context. IMPORTANCE Subseafloor sediment provides a wonderful opportunity to investigate the drivers of microbial diversity in communities that may have been isolated for millions of years. Our paper shows the impact of in situ conditions on bacterial community structure in subseafloor sediment. Specifically, it shows that bacterial richness in subseafloor sediment declines exponentially with sediment age, and in parallel with organic-fueled oxidation rate. This result suggests that subseafloor diversity ultimately ... |
author2 |
Spormann, A. M. Sloan Foundation U.S. Science Support Program for IODP National Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Walsh, Emily A. Kirkpatrick, John B. Pockalny, Robert Sauvage, Justine Spivack, Arthur J. Murray, Richard W. Sogin, Mitchell L. D'Hondt, Steven |
spellingShingle |
Walsh, Emily A. Kirkpatrick, John B. Pockalny, Robert Sauvage, Justine Spivack, Arthur J. Murray, Richard W. Sogin, Mitchell L. D'Hondt, Steven Relationship of Bacterial Richness to Organic Degradation Rate and Sediment Age in Subseafloor Sediment |
author_facet |
Walsh, Emily A. Kirkpatrick, John B. Pockalny, Robert Sauvage, Justine Spivack, Arthur J. Murray, Richard W. Sogin, Mitchell L. D'Hondt, Steven |
author_sort |
Walsh, Emily A. |
title |
Relationship of Bacterial Richness to Organic Degradation Rate and Sediment Age in Subseafloor Sediment |
title_short |
Relationship of Bacterial Richness to Organic Degradation Rate and Sediment Age in Subseafloor Sediment |
title_full |
Relationship of Bacterial Richness to Organic Degradation Rate and Sediment Age in Subseafloor Sediment |
title_fullStr |
Relationship of Bacterial Richness to Organic Degradation Rate and Sediment Age in Subseafloor Sediment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relationship of Bacterial Richness to Organic Degradation Rate and Sediment Age in Subseafloor Sediment |
title_sort |
relationship of bacterial richness to organic degradation rate and sediment age in subseafloor sediment |
publisher |
American Society for Microbiology |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.00809-16 https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/AEM.00809-16 |
genre |
Bering Sea |
genre_facet |
Bering Sea |
op_source |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology volume 82, issue 16, page 4994-4999 ISSN 0099-2240 1098-5336 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://journals.asm.org/non-commercial-tdm-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00809-16 |
container_title |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
container_volume |
82 |
container_issue |
16 |
container_start_page |
4994 |
op_container_end_page |
4999 |
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1810436746254483456 |