Microbial communities inhabiting shallow hydrothermal vents as sentinels of acidification processes

Abstract

Introduction: Shallow hydrothermal vents are considered natural laboratories to study the effects of acidification on biota, due to the consistent CO₂ emissions with a consequent decrease in the local pH.

Methods: Here the microbial communities of water and sediment samples from Levante Bay (Vulcano Island) with different pH and redox conditions were explored by Next Generation Sequencing techniques. The taxonomic structure was elucidated and compared with previous studies from the same area in the last decades.

Results and discussion: The results revealed substantial shifts in the taxonomic structure of both bacterial and archaeal communities, with special relevance in the sediment samples, where the effects of external parameters probably act for a long time. The study demonstrates that microbial communities could be used as indicators of acidification processes, by shaping the entire biogeochemical balance of the ecosystem in response to stress factors. The study contributes to understanding how much these communities can tell us about future changes in marine ecosystems.

Keywords: acidification effects; extremophiles; microbial communities; redox potential; shallow hydrothermal vents.