Microbial diversity in deep-sea sediments from the Menez Gwen hydrothermal vent system of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Abstract

Deep-sea hydrothermal sediments are known to support remarkably diverse microbial consortia. Culture-independent sequence-based technologies have extensively been used to disclose the associated microbial diversity as most of the microorganisms inhabiting these ecosystems remain uncultured. Here we provide the first description of the microbial community diversity found on sediments from Menez Gwen vent system. We compared hydrothermally influenced sediments, retrieved from an active vent chimney at 812 m depth, with non-hydrothermally influenced sediments, from a 1400 m depth bathyal plain. Considering the enriched methane and sulfur composition of Menez Gwen vent fluids, and the sediment physicochemical properties in each sampled area, we hypothesized that the site-associated microbes would be different. To address this question, taxonomic profiles of bacterial, archaeal and micro-eukaryotic representatives were studied by rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing. Communities were shown to be significantly different and segregated by sediment geographical area. Specific mesophilic, thermophilic and hyperthermophilic archaeal (e.g., Archaeoglobus, ANME-1) and bacterial (e.g., Caldithrix, Thermodesulfobacteria) taxa were highly abundant near the vent chimney. In contrast, bathyal-associated members affiliated to more ubiquitous phylogroups from deep-ocean sediments (e.g., Thaumarchaeota MGI, Gamma- and Alphaproteobacteria).

This study provides a broader picture of the biological diversity and microbial biogeography, and represents a preliminary approach to the microbial ecology associated with the deep-sea sediments from the Menez Gwen hydrothermal vent field.