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Ugwuanyi IR, Fogel ML, Bowden R, Steele A, De Natale G, Troise C, Somma R, Piochi M, Mormone A, Glamoclija M. Comparative metagenomics at Solfatara and Pisciarelli hydrothermal systems in Italy reveal that ecological differences across substrates are not ubiquitous. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1066406. [PMID: 36819055 PMCID: PMC9930910 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1066406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Continental hydrothermal systems (CHSs) are geochemically complex, and they support microbial communities that vary across substrates. However, our understanding of these variations across the complete range of substrates in CHS is limited because many previous studies have focused predominantly on aqueous settings. Methods Here we used metagenomes in the context of their environmental geochemistry to investigate the ecology of different substrates (i.e., water, mud and fumarolic deposits) from Solfatara and Pisciarelli. Results and Discussion Results indicate that both locations are lithologically similar with distinct fluid geochemistry. In particular, all substrates from Solfatara have similar chemistry whereas Pisciarelli substrates have varying chemistry; with water and mud from bubbling pools exhibiting high SO4 2- and NH4 + concentrations. Species alpha diversity was found to be different between locations but not across substrates, and pH was shown to be the most important driver of both diversity and microbial community composition. Based on cluster analysis, microbial community structure differed significantly between Pisciarelli substrates but not between Solfatara substrates. Pisciarelli mud pools, were dominated by (hyper)thermophilic archaea, and on average, bacteria dominated Pisciarelli fumarolic deposits and all investigated Solfatara environments. Carbon fixation and sulfur oxidation were the most important metabolic pathways fueled by volcanic outgassing at both locations. Together, results demonstrate that ecological differences across substrates are not a widespread phenomenon but specific to the system. Therefore, this study demonstrates the importance of analyzing different substrates of a CHS to understand the full range of microbial ecology to avoid biased ecological assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ifeoma R. Ugwuanyi
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, United States,Ifeoma R. Ugwuanyi, ✉
| | - Marilyn L. Fogel
- EDGE Institute, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Roxane Bowden
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Andrew Steele
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Giuseppe De Natale
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Naples, Italy,Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche INO, Naples, Italy
| | - Claudia Troise
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Naples, Italy,Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche INO, Naples, Italy
| | - Renato Somma
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Naples, Italy,Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche IRISS, Naples, Italy
| | - Monica Piochi
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Naples, Italy
| | - Angela Mormone
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Vesuviano, Naples, Italy
| | - Mihaela Glamoclija
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, United States,*Correspondence: Mihaela Glamoclija, ✉
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