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Geological degassing enhances microbial metabolism in the continental subsurface

Bornemann, T. L.; Adam, P. S.; Turzynski, V.; Schreiber, U.; Figueroa-Gonzalez, P. A.; Rahlff, J.; Koester, D.; Schmidt, T. C.; Schunk, R.; Krauthausen, B.; Probst, A. J.

2020-03-08 microbiology
10.1101/2020.03.07.980714 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Mantle degassing provides a substantial amount of reduced and oxidized gases shaping microbial metabolism at volcanic sites across the globe, yet little is known about its impact on microbial life under non-thermal conditions. Here, we characterized deep subsurface fluids from a cold-water geyser driven by mantle degassing using genome-resolved metagenomics to investigate how the gases impact the metabolism and activity of indigenous microbes compared to non-impacted sites. While species-specific analyses of Altiarchaeota suggest site-specific adaptations and a particular biogeographic pattern, chemolithoautotrophic core features of the communities appeared to be conserved across 17 groundwater ecosystems between 5 and 3200 m depth. We identified a significant negative correlation between ecosystem depth and bacterial replication, except for samples impacted by high amounts of subsurface gases, which exhibited near-surface activity. Our results suggest that geological degassing leads to higher nutrient flows and microbial activity in the deep subsurface than previously estimated.

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