Title: | Hydrothermally generated aromatic compounds are consumed by bacteria colonizing in Atlantis II Deep of the Red Sea |
Author(s): | Wang Y; Yang J; Lee OO; Dash S; Lau SC; Al-Suwailem A; Wong TY; Danchin A; Qian PY; |
Address: | "KAUST Global Collaborative Research, Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China" |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1751-7370 (Electronic) 1751-7362 (Print) 1751-7362 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Hydrothermal ecosystems have a wide distribution on Earth and many can be found in the basin of the Red Sea. Production of aromatic compounds occurs in a temperature window of approximately 60-150 degrees C by utilizing organic debris. In the past 50 years, the temperature of the Atlantis II Deep brine pool in the Red Sea has increased from 56 to 68 degrees C, whereas the temperature at the nearby Discovery Deep brine pool has remained relatively stable at about 44 degrees C. In this report, we confirmed the presence of aromatic compounds in the Atlantis II brine pool as expected. The presence of the aromatic compounds might have disturbed the microbes in the Atlantis II. To show shifted microbial communities and their metabolisms, we sequenced the metagenomes of the microbes from both brine pools. Classification based on metareads and the 16S rRNA gene sequences from clones showed a strong divergence of dominant bacterial species between the pools. Bacteria capable of aromatic degradation were present in the Atlantis II brine pool. A comparison of the metabolic pathways showed that several aromatic degradation pathways were significantly enriched in the Atlantis II brine pool, suggesting the presence of aromatic compounds. Pathways utilizing metabolites derived from aromatic degradation were also significantly affected. In the Discovery brine pool, the most abundant genes from the microbes were related to sugar metabolism pathways and DNA synthesis and repair, suggesting a different strategy for the utilization of carbon and energy sources between the Discovery brine pool and the Atlantis II brine pool" |
Keywords: | Bacteria/classification/genetics/*metabolism Ecosystem Indian Ocean Metabolome Phylogeny Salts/metabolism Seawater/*microbiology Temperature Volatile Organic Compounds/*metabolism; |
Notes: | "MedlineWang, Yong Yang, Jiangke Lee, On On Dash, Swagatika Lau, Stanley C K Al-Suwailem, Abdulaziz Wong, Tim Y H Danchin, Antoine Qian, Pei-Yuan eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2011/04/29 ISME J. 2011 Oct; 5(10):1652-9. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2011.42. Epub 2011 Apr 28" |