Heterotrophic bicarbonate assimilation is the main process of de novo organic carbon synthesis in hadal zone of the Hellenic Trench, the deepest part of Mediterranean Sea

Genomic Characteristics and Potential Metabolic Adaptations of Hadal Trench Roseobacter and Alteromonas Bacteria Based on Single-Cell Genomics Analyses

Heterotrophic bacteria such as those from the Roseobacter group and genus Alteromonas dominate the hadal zones of oceans; however, we know little about the genomic characteristics and potential metabolic adaptations of hadal trench-dwelling bacteria. Here, we report multiple single amplified genomes (SAGs) belonging to Roseobacter and Alteromonas, recovered from the hadal zone of the Mariana Trench. While phylogenetic analyses show that these hadal SAGs cluster with their surface relatives, an analysis of genomic recruitment indicates that they have higher relative abundances in the hadal zone of the Mariana Trench. Comparative genomic analyses between the hadal SAGs and reference genomes of closely related shallow-water relatives indicate that genes involved in the mobilome (prophages and transposons) are overrepresented among the unique genes of the hadal Roseobacter and Alteromonas SAGs; the functional proteins encoded by this category of genes also shows higher amino acid sequence variation than those encoded by other gene sets within the Roseobacter SAGs. We also found that genes involved in cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis, transcriptional regulation, and metal transport may be important for the adaptation of hadal Roseobacter and Alteromonas lineages. These results imply that the modification of cell surface-related proteins and transporters is the major direction of genomic evolution in Roseobacter and Alteromonas bacteria adapting to the hadal environment, and that prophages and transposons may be the key factors driving this process.

Substrate-dependent CO2 fixation in heterotrophic bacteria revealed by stable isotope labelling

Virtually all heterotrophs incorporate carbon dioxide by anaplerotic fixation. Little explored, however, is the interdependency of pathways and rates of CO2fixation on the concurrent usage of organic substrate(s). Potentially, this could reveal which substrates out of a pool of dissolved organic carbon are utilised by environmental microorganisms. To explore this possibility, Bacillus subtilis W23 was grown in a minimal medium with normalised amounts of either glucose, lactate or malate as only organic substrates, each together with 1 g/L NaH13CO3. Incorporation of H13CO3− was traced by elemental analysis-isotope ratio mass spectrometry of biomass and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of protein-derived amino acids. Until the late logarithmic phase, 13C incorporation into the tricarboxylic acid cycle increased with time and occurred via [4–13C]oxaloacetate formed by carboxylation of pyruvate. The levels of 13C incorporation were highest for growth on glucose and lowest on malate. Incorporation of 13C into gluconeogenesis products was mainly detected in the lactate and malate experiment, whereas glucose down-regulated this path. A proof-of-principle study with a natural groundwater community confirmed the ability to determine incorporation from H13CO3− by natural communities leading to specific labelling patterns. This underlines the potential of the labelling approach to characterise carbon sources of heterotrophic microorganisms in their natural environments.

Inorganic and Organic Carbon Uptake Processes and Their Connection to Microbial Diversity in Meso- and Bathypelagic Arctic Waters (Eastern Fram Strait)

The deep Arctic Ocean is increasingly vulnerable to climate change effects, yet our understanding of its microbial processes is limited. We collected samples from shelf waters, mesopelagic Atlantic Waters (AW) and bathypelagic Norwegian Sea Deep Waters (NSDW) in the eastern Fram Strait, along coast-to-offshore transects off Svalbard during boreal summer. We measured community respiration, heterotrophic carbon production (HCP), and dissolved inorganic carbon utilization (DICu) together with prokaryotic abundance, diversity, and metagenomic predictions. In deep samples, HCP was significantly faster in AW than in NSDW, while we observed no differences in DICu rates. Organic carbon uptake was higher than its inorganic counterpart, suggesting a major reliance of deep microbial Arctic communities on heterotrophic metabolism. Community structure and spatial distribution followed the hydrography of water masses. Distinct from other oceans, the most abundant OTU in our deep samples was represented by the archaeal MG-II. To address the potential biogeochemical role of each water mass-specific microbial community, as well as their link with the measured rates, PICRUSt-based predicted metagenomes were built. The results showed that pathways of auto- and heterotrophic carbon utilization differed between the deep water masses, although this was not reflected in measured DICu rates. Our findings provide new insights to understand microbial processes and diversity in the dark Arctic Ocean and to progress toward a better comprehension of the biogeochemical cycles and their trends in light of climate changes.

Contribution of Bicarbonate Assimilation to Carbon Pool Dynamics in the Deep Mediterranean Sea and Cultivation of Actively Nitrifying and CO2-Fixing Bathypelagic Prokaryotic Consortia

Covering two-thirds of our planet, the global deep ocean plays a central role in supporting life on Earth. Among other processes, this biggest ecosystem buffers the rise of atmospheric CO2. Despite carbon sequestration in the deep ocean has been known for a long time, microbial activity in the meso- and bathypelagic realm via the "assimilation of bicarbonate in the dark" (ABD) has only recently been described in more details. Based on recent findings, this process seems primarily the result of chemosynthetic and anaplerotic reactions driven by different groups of deep-sea prokaryoplankton. We quantified bicarbonate assimilation in relation to total prokaryotic abundance, prokaryotic heterotrophic production and respiration in the meso- and bathypelagic Mediterranean Sea. The measured ABD values, ranging from 133 to 370 μg C m-3 d-1, were among the highest ones reported worldwide for similar depths, likely due to the elevated temperature of the deep Mediterranean Sea (13-14°C also at abyssal depths). Integrated over the dark water column (≥200 m depth), bicarbonate assimilation in the deep-sea ranged from 396 to 873 mg C m-2 d-1. This quantity of produced de novo organic carbon amounts to about 85-424% of the phytoplankton primary production and covers up to 62% of deep-sea prokaryotic total carbon demand. Hence, the ABD process in the meso- and bathypelagic Mediterranean Sea might substantially contribute to the inorganic and organic pool and significantly sustain the deep-sea microbial food web. To elucidate the ABD key-players, we established three actively nitrifying and CO2-fixing prokaryotic enrichments. Consortia were characterized by the co-occurrence of chemolithoautotrophic Thaumarchaeota and chemoheterotrophic proteobacteria. One of the enrichments, originated from Ionian bathypelagic waters (3,000 m depth) and supplemented with low concentrations of ammonia, was dominated by the Thaumarchaeota "low-ammonia-concentration" deep-sea ecotype, an enigmatic and ecologically important group of organisms, uncultured until this study.

CO2 and carbonate as substrate for the activation of the microbial community in 180 m deep bedrock fracture fluid of Outokumpu Deep Drill Hole, Finland

Microbial communities in deep subsurface environments comprise a large portion of Earth's biomass, but the metabolic activities in these habitats are largely unknown. Here the effect of CO₂ and carbonate on the microbial community of an isolated groundwater fracture zone at 180 m depth of the Outokumpu Deep Scientific Drill Hole (Finland) was tested. Outokumpu groundwater at 180 m depth contains approximately 0.45 L L⁻¹ dissolved gas of which methane contributes 76%. CO₂, on the other hand, is scarce. The number of microbial cells with intracellular activity in the groundwater was low when examined with redox staining. Fluorescence Assisted Cell Sorting (FACS) analyses indicated that only 1% of the microbial community stained active with the redox sensing dye in the untreated groundwater after 4 weeks of starvation. However, carbon substrate and sulfate addition increased the abundance of fluorescent cells up to 7%. CO₂ and CO₂ + sulfate activated the greatest number of microbes, especially increasing the abundance of Pseudomonas sp., which otherwise was present at only low abundance in Outokumpu. Over longer exposure time (2 months) up to 50% of the bacterial cells in the groundwater were shown to incorporate inorganic carbon from carbonate into biomass. Carbon recapture is an important feature in this ecosystem since it may decrease the rate of carbon loss in form of CO₂ released from cellular processes.

Relative Importance of Chemoautotrophy for Primary Production in a Light Exposed Marine Shallow Hydrothermal System

The unique geochemistry of marine shallow-water hydrothermal systems promotes the establishment of diverse microbial communities with a range of metabolic pathways. In contrast to deep-sea vents, shallow-water vents not only support chemosynthesis, but also phototrophic primary production due to the availability of light. However, comprehensive studies targeting the predominant biogeochemical processes are rare, and consequently a holistic understanding of the functioning of these ecosystems is currently lacking. To this end, we combined stable isotope probing of lipid biomarkers with an analysis of the bacterial communities to investigate if chemoautotrophy, in parallel to photoautotrophy, plays an important role in autotrophic carbon fixation and to identify the key players. The study was carried out at a marine shallow-water hydrothermal system located at 5 m water depth off Dominica Island (Lesser Antilles), characterized by up to 55°C warm hydrothermal fluids that contain high amounts of dissolved Fe²⁺. Analysis of the bacterial diversity revealed Anaerolineae of the Chloroflexi as the most abundant bacterial class. Furthermore, the presence of key players involved in iron cycling generally known from deep-sea hydrothermal vents (e.g., Zetaproteobacteria and Geothermobacter), supported the importance of iron-driven redox processes in this hydrothermal system. Uptake of ¹³C-bicarbonate into bacterial fatty acids under light and dark conditions revealed active photo- and chemoautotrophic communities, with chemoautotrophy accounting for up to 65% of the observed autotrophic carbon fixation. Relatively increased ¹³C-incorporation in the dark allowed the classification of aiC_15:0, C_15:0, and iC_16:0 as potential lipid biomarkers for bacterial chemoautotrophy in this ecosystem. Highest total ¹³C-incorporation into fatty acids took place at the sediment surface, but chemosynthesis was found to be active down to 8 cm sediment depth. In conclusion, this study highlights the relative importance of chemoautotrophy compared to photoautotrophy in a shallow-water hydrothermal system, emphasizing chemosynthesis as a prominent process for biomass production in marine coastal environments influenced by hydrothermalism.

Uptake-release dynamics of the inorganic and organic carbon pool mediated by planktonic prokaryotes in the deep Mediterranean Sea

Understanding the ecosystem functioning in the dark portion of the ocean is a challenge that microbial ecologists are still facing. Due to the large volume, the global deep Ocean plays a central role in the regulation of climate, possibly buffering the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide if processes of CO₂ fixation compensate for respiration. We investigated the rates of several prokaryotic activities (dissolved and particulate primary production, heterotrophic carbon production and respiration) in meso- and bathypelagic waters of the Mediterranean Sea, covering all sub-basins. Chemosynthesis was the main process for C uptake. The rates of organic C (OC) excretion (or viral-induced cell lysis) inferred from the dissolved primary production measurements were noteworthy, being comparable to particulate primary production, and possibly contributing to the formation of non-sinking particulate organic matter. Inorganic C fixation rates were significantly higher than those reported for other deep-sea systems, probably as a consequence of the persistently higher temperature of dark Mediterranean waters or to phylogenetically diverse communities involved in the process. Primary production was negatively correlated with dissolved organic carbon concentration and showed an inverse pattern to heterotrophic carbon production, indicating a niche partitioning between heterotrophs and autotrophs. In sum, the deep Mediterranean Sea harbors active autotrophic communities able to fix inorganic carbon faster than the heterotrophic carbon production rates.

Coupled RNA-SIP and metatranscriptomics of active chemolithoautotrophic communities at a deep-sea hydrothermal vent

The chemolithoautotrophic microbial community of the rocky subseafloor potentially provides a large amount of organic carbon to the deep ocean, yet our understanding of the activity and metabolic complexity of subseafloor organisms remains poorly described. A combination of metagenomic, metatranscriptomic, and RNA stable isotope probing (RNA-SIP) analyses were used to identify the metabolic potential, expression patterns, and active autotrophic bacteria and archaea and their pathways present in low-temperature hydrothermal fluids from Axial Seamount, an active submarine volcano. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic results showed the presence of genes and transcripts for sulfur, hydrogen, and ammonium oxidation, oxygen respiration, denitrification, and methanogenesis, as well as multiple carbon fixation pathways. In RNA-SIP experiments across a range of temperatures under reducing conditions, the enriched ¹³C fractions showed differences in taxonomic and functional diversity. At 30 °C and 55 °C, Epsilonproteobacteria were dominant, oxidizing hydrogen and primarily reducing nitrate. Methanogenic archaea were also present at 55 °C, and were the only autotrophs present at 80 °C. Correspondingly, the predominant CO₂ fixation pathways changed from the reductive tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle to the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway with increasing temperature. By coupling RNA-SIP with meta-omics, this study demonstrates the presence and activity of distinct chemolithoautotrophic communities across a thermal gradient of a deep-sea hydrothermal vent.

Shifts in the meso- and bathypelagic archaea communities composition during recovery and short-term handling of decompressed deep-sea samples

Dark ocean microbial communities are actively involved in chemoautotrophic and anaplerotic fixation of bicarbonate. Thus, aphotic pelagic realm of the ocean might represent a significant sink of CO2 and source of primary production. However, the estimated metabolic activities in the dark ocean are fraught with uncertainties. Typically, deep-sea samples are recovered to the sea surface for downstream processing on deck. Shifts in ambient settings, associated with such treatments, can likely change the metabolic activity and community structure of deep-sea adapted autochthonous microbial populations. To estimate influence of recovery and short-term handling of deep-sea samples, we monitored the succession of bathypelagic microbial community during its 3 days long on deck incubation. We demonstrated that at the end of exposition, the deep-sea archaeal population decreased threefold, whereas the bacterial fraction doubled in size. As revealed by phylogenetic analyses of amoA gene transcripts, dominance of the active ammonium-oxidizing bathypelagic Thaumarchaeota groups shifted over time very fast. These findings demonstrated the simultaneous existence of various 'deep-sea ecotypes', differentially reacting to the sampling and downstream handling. Our study supports the hypothesis that metabolically active members of meso- and bathypelagic Thaumarchaeota possess the habitat-specific distribution, metabolic complexity and genetic divergence at subpopulation level.

Elemental sulfur and acetate can support life of a novel strictly anaerobic haloarchaeon

Archaea domain is comprised of many versatile taxa that often colonize extreme habitats. Here, we report the discovery of strictly anaerobic extremely halophilic euryarchaeon, capable of obtaining energy by dissimilatory reduction of elemental sulfur using acetate as the only electron donor and forming sulfide and CO2 as the only products. This type of respiration has never been observed in hypersaline anoxic habitats and is the first example of such metabolic capability in the entire Archaea domain. We isolated and cultivated these unusual organisms, selecting one representative strain, HSR2, for detailed characterization. Our studies including physiological tests, genome sequencing, gene expression, metabolomics and [(14)C]-bicarbonate assimilation assays revealed that HSR2 oxidized acetate completely via the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Anabolic assimilation of acetate occurred via activated glyoxylate bypass and anaplerotic carboxylation. HSR2 possessed sulfurtransferase and an array of membrane-bound polysulfide reductase genes, all of which were expressed during the growth. Our findings suggest the biogeochemical contribution of haloarchaea in hypersaline anoxic environments must be reconsidered.

Comparative analysis of deep-sea bacterioplankton OMICS revealed the occurrence of habitat-specific genomic attributes

Bathyal aphotic ocean represents the largest biotope on our planet, which sustains highly diverse but low-density microbial communities, with yet untapped genomic attributes, potentially useful for discovery of new biomolecules, industrial enzymes and pathways. In the last two decades, culture-independent approaches of high-throughput sequencing have provided new insights into structure and function of marine bacterioplankton, leading to unprecedented opportunities to accurately characterize microbial communities and their interactions with the environments. In the present review we focused on the analysis of relatively few deep-sea OMICS studies, completed thus far, to find the specific genomic patterns determining the lifeway and adaptation mechanisms of prokaryotes thriving in the dark deep ocean below the depth of 1000m. Phylogenomic and omic studies provided clear evidence that the bathyal microbial communities are distinct from the epipelagic counterparts and, along with generally larger genomes, possess their own habitat-specific genomic attributes. The high abundance in the deep ocean OMICS of the systems for environmental sensing, signal transduction and metabolic versatility as compared to the epipelagic counterparts is thought to enable the deep-sea bacterioplankton to rapidly adapt to changing environmental conditions associated with resource scarcity and high diversity of energy and carbon substrates in the bathyal biotopes. Together with a versatile heterotrophy, mixotrophy and anaplerosis are thought to enable the deep-sea bacterioplankton to cope with these environmental conditions.