Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) increasingly becomes the hot spot of deep-sea mining and extreme life research. Strategies for future environmental conservation are undoubtedly required which makes investigation of microbial iron metabolisms imperative. Through deep metagenome sequencing, five iron-oxidizing Zetaproteoabacteria metagenome-assembled genomes were recovered from Longqi hydrothermal vent in the SWIR. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that two of the MAGs might represent novel genus in Zetaproteobacteria while other MAGs were related to Mariprofundus. Functional profile suggested that they might be aerobic chemolithoautotrophic species with genes encoding cytochrome c oxidase, iron oxidase cyc2 homologs and carbon fixation CBB pathway. Versatile capabilities of synthesizing diverse amino acids and cofactors were indicated while possession of various metal ion transporters could be vital to heavy metal resistance. Our work has provided more understanding about phylogenetic and functional features of iron-oxidizing Zetaproteobacteria, which might be important to investigate iron biogeochemistry and mineral oxidation in SWIR.
Keywords: Hydrothermal vent; Iron oxidation; Southwest Indian ridge; Zetaproteobacteria.
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