Environmental factors shaping bacterial, archaeal and fungal community structure in hydrothermal sediments of Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 8;16(9):e0256321. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256321. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The flanking regions of Guaymas Basin, a young marginal rift basin located in the Gulf of California, are covered with thick sediment layers that are hydrothermally altered due to magmatic intrusions. To explore environmental controls on microbial community structure in this complex environment, we analyzed site- and depth-related patterns of microbial community composition (bacteria, archaea, and fungi) in hydrothermally influenced sediments with different thermal conditions, geochemical regimes, and extent of microbial mats. We compared communities in hot hydrothermal sediments (75-100°C at ~40 cm depth) covered by orange-pigmented Beggiatoaceae mats in the Cathedral Hill area, temperate sediments (25-30°C at ~40 cm depth) covered by yellow sulfur precipitates and filamentous sulfur oxidizers at the Aceto Balsamico location, hot sediments (>115°C at ~40 cm depth) with orange-pigmented mats surrounded by yellow and white mats at the Marker 14 location, and background, non-hydrothermal sediments (3.8°C at ~45 cm depth) overlain with ambient seawater. Whereas bacterial and archaeal communities are clearly structured by site-specific in-situ thermal gradients and geochemical conditions, fungal communities are generally structured by sediment depth. Unexpectedly, chytrid sequence biosignatures are ubiquitous in surficial sediments whereas deeper sediments contain diverse yeasts and filamentous fungi. In correlation analyses across different sites and sediment depths, fungal phylotypes correlate to each other to a much greater degree than Bacteria and Archaea do to each other or to fungi, further substantiating that site-specific in-situ thermal gradients and geochemical conditions that control bacteria and archaea do not extend to fungi.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Archaea / genetics*
  • Bacteria / genetics*
  • Biodiversity
  • California
  • Environment
  • Fungi / genetics*
  • Geologic Sediments / chemistry
  • Geologic Sediments / microbiology*
  • Hydrothermal Vents / chemistry
  • Hydrothermal Vents / microbiology*
  • Phylogeny
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA / methods

Grants and funding

This project was supported by collaborative NSF Biological Oceanography grants 1829903 and 1829680 “Hydrothermal fungi in the Guaymas Basin Hydrocarbon Ecosystem” to V. Edgcomb and A. Teske, respectively. Postdoc G. Ramirez and Graduate student C.R. Chambers were supported by NSF Molecular and Cellular Biology grant 1817381 “Next Generation Physiology” and by ARPA-E grant “Mining the Deep Sea for Microbial Ethano- and Propanogenesis”. Sampling in Guaymas Basin was supported by collaborative NSF Biological Oceanography grants 1357238 and 1357360 “Collaborative Research: Microbial carbon cycling and its interaction with sulfur and nitrogen transformations in Guaymas Basin hydrothermal sediments” to A. Teske and S. B. Joye, respectively. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.