Abundance and diversity of microbial life in ocean crust
Abundance and diversity of microbial life in ocean crust
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DOI：
10.1038/nature06899
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发表时间：
2008-05-29
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Edwards, Katrina J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Santelli, Cara M.;Orcutt, Beth N.;Edwards, Katrina J.
暴露在海底的海洋岩石圈发生了包括玻璃质玄武岩氧化和水化作用在内的海水岩石蚀变反应。玄武岩蚀变反应理论上能够为化化岩自养生长提供足够的能量(1)。这种反应已被证明在实验室中产生微生物生物量(2)，但缺乏基于玄武岩蚀变支持的微生物存在的现场支持。利用定量聚合酶链反应、原位杂交和显微镜技术，我们发现暴露在海底的玄武岩上的原核细胞丰度比上覆的深海水高出3 - 4个数量级。对东太平洋隆起（北纬9度）和夏威夷附近玄武岩熔岩的系统发育分析表明，玄武岩寄存的生物圈拥有较高的细菌群落丰富度，并且这些地点之间的群落成员是共享的。我们假设蚀变反应为化学岩石自养微生物提供了燃料，这些微生物构成了玄武岩栖息地的营养基础，对玄武岩与海水之间的碳循环和化学交换具有重要意义。
Oceanic lithosphere exposed at the sea floor undergoes seawater rock alteration reactions involving the oxidation and hydration of glassy basalt. Basalt alteration reactions are theoretically capable of supplying sufficient energy for chemolithoautotrophic growth(1). Such reactions have been shown to generate microbial biomass in the laboratory(2), but field- based support for the existence of microbes that are supported by basalt alteration is lacking. Here, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization and microscopy, we demonstrate that prokaryotic cell abundances on seafloor- exposed basalts are 3 - 4 orders of magnitude greater than in overlying deep sea water. Phylogenetic analyses of basaltic lavas from the East Pacific Rise ( 9 degrees N) and around Hawaii reveal that the basalt- hosted biosphere harbours high bacterial community richness and that community membership is shared between these sites. We hypothesize that alteration reactions fuel chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms, which constitute a trophic base of the basalt habitat, with important implications for deep- sea carbon cycling and chemical exchange between basalt and sea water.