Abundance and Diversity of Microbial
life in Ocean Crust
Cara M. Santelli,
Beth N. Orcutt, Erin Banning,
Wolfgang Bach, Craig L. Moyer, Mitchell L. Sogin,
Hubert Staudigel & Katrina J. Edwards
Geomicrobiology Group, Department of Biological
Sciences, Marine Environmental Biology, University
of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90089-0371,USA. Abundance and diversity of microbial life
in ocean crust.Nature 453,
2008, 653-656 .
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 . Such reactions have been shown to generate
microbial biomass in the laboratory, 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° 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.
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