Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 27, 2026
10:43
Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
Published on: November 5, 2014
26.4K
Similar Microbial Communities Found on Two Distant Seafloor Basalts
Esther Singer1, Lauren S Chong2, John F Heidelberg3
1Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek CA, USA.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|January 7, 2016
Summary
Microbial communities in deep-sea basalts are diverse, featuring key bacteria and archaea involved in essential nutrient cycling. These seafloor ecosystems show remarkable overlap despite vast distances.
Area of Science:
- Marine microbiology
- Geomicrobiology
- Oceanography
Background:
- The oceanic crust, covering two-thirds of Earth's surface, hosts diverse microbial life.
- Microbial habitats in igneous ocean floor rocks are less understood than sedimentary environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct the first comparative metagenomic analysis of microbial communities in deep-sea basalt habitats.
- To investigate microbial diversity and function in basaltic oceanic crust at Lō'ihi Seamount and the East Pacific Rise.
Main Methods:
- Comparative metagenomic analysis of microbial communities.
- Phylogenetic and functional gene analysis of microorganisms in seafloor basalts.
Main Results:
- Identified 43 bacterial and archaeal monophyletic groups, dominated by Proteobacteria and Thaumarchaeota.
- Thaumarchaeota are crucial for ammonium oxidation in basaltic habitats.
- Observed significant metabolic and phylogenetic overlap in microbial communities between Lō'ihi and the East Pacific Rise.
Conclusions:
- Deep-sea basaltic crust supports diverse microbial ecosystems with significant roles in biogeochemical cycling.
- Geographic distance does not preclude substantial overlap in microbial community structure and function in these habitats.
More Related Videos
10:30Soil Lysimeter Excavation for Coupled Hydrological, Geochemical, and Microbiological Investigations
Published on: September 11, 2016
11.4K
07:56Author Spotlight: Unraveling the Mysteries of Terrestrial Anaerobic Microorganisms in Uncharted Environments by In Situ Culturing
Published on: January 12, 2024
1.7K
Related Concept Videos
01:18Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
33
The deep ocean and its underlying sediments represent vast, largely unexplored microbial habitats that extend far beyond the sunlit photic zone. The photic (euphotic) zone typically spans the upper ~100–200 meters of pelagic waters in the open ocean, but its depth varies geographically and seasonally, where sufficient light supports photosynthetic life. Below this lies the deep sea, spanning roughly 1000–6000 meters (bathypelagic to abyssal zones), with deeper hadal trenches...
33
01:25Microbial Mats
40
Microbial communities forming biofilms and mats represent complex, spatially structured ecosystems where metabolic processes are stratified according to light, oxygen, and nutrient gradients. Biofilms are initial colonization stages, only a few millimeters thick, while mature microbial mats can reach centimeter-scale thickness and display intricate vertical organization. Their structural and functional heterogeneity allows microorganisms to occupy distinct ecological niches within a few...
40
01:30Marine Microbial Ecology
37
Marine microbial ecosystems are shaped by distinct physicochemical limits, including high salinity, low nutrient availability, and fluctuating oxygen levels. These conditions favor smaller microbial cell sizes, which maximize their surface-to-volume ratio for efficient nutrient uptake.Microbial activity and community composition are closely linked to biogeochemical cycles, particularly in dynamic environments like estuaries, where halotolerant microbes thrive in response to variable salinity...
37
01:26Microbes and Methanogenesis
30
Methanogenesis is a critical microbial process in anaerobic ecosystems responsible for the biological production of methane, a potent greenhouse gas and valuable biofuel. This metabolic pathway is primarily facilitated by methanogenic archaea, which thrive in anoxic environments such as wetlands, sediments, and animal gastrointestinal tracts. The absence of oxygen in these habitats prevents aerobic respiration, thereby favoring alternative biochemical pathways for organic matter degradation.In...
30
01:22Microenvironments
32
Microorganisms inhabit highly localized spaces known as microenvironments, which are defined by distinct physical and chemical characteristics. These include oxygen concentration, pH, temperature, light availability, and nutrient levels. The conditions within a microenvironment can differ markedly from those in the surrounding area and significantly influence microbial growth, metabolism, and community structure.Microenvironments often display sharp physicochemical gradients over small spatial...
32
01:24Freshwater Microbial Ecology
33
Freshwater systems such as streams, rivers, and lakes exhibit distinct physical and biological characteristics that influence their microbial communities. These environments are broadly categorized into lotic systems—those with flowing waters like streams and most rivers—and lentic systems, which include still or slow-moving waters such as lakes, ponds, and marshes.In lentic systems, phytoplankton drive primary production, generating autochthonous organic carbon. In contrast, lotic...
33