Carbon fixation and energy metabolisms of a subseafloor olivine biofilm

ISME J. 2019 Jul;13(7):1737-1749. doi: 10.1038/s41396-019-0385-0. Epub 2019 Mar 12.

Abstract

Earth's largest aquifer ecosystem resides in igneous oceanic crust, where chemosynthesis and water-rock reactions provide the carbon and energy that support an active deep biosphere. The Calvin Cycle is the predominant carbon fixation pathway in cool, oxic, crust; however, the energy and carbon metabolisms in the deep thermal basaltic aquifer are poorly understood. Anaerobic carbon fixation pathways such as the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, which uses hydrogen (H2) and CO2, may be common in thermal aquifers since water-rock reactions can produce H2 in hydrothermal environments and bicarbonate is abundant in seawater. To test this, we reconstructed the metabolisms of eleven bacterial and archaeal metagenome-assembled genomes from an olivine biofilm obtained from a Juan de Fuca Ridge basaltic aquifer. We found that the dominant carbon fixation pathway was the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, which was present in seven of the eight bacterial genomes. Anaerobic respiration appears to be driven by sulfate reduction, and one bacterial genome contained a complete nitrogen fixation pathway. This study reveals the potential pathways for carbon and energy flux in the deep anoxic thermal aquifer ecosystem, and suggests that ancient H2-based chemolithoautotrophy, which once dominated Earth's early biosphere, may thus remain one of the dominant metabolisms in the suboceanic aquifer today.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Archaea / classification
  • Archaea / genetics
  • Archaea / isolation & purification
  • Archaea / metabolism*
  • Bacteria / classification
  • Bacteria / genetics
  • Bacteria / isolation & purification
  • Bacteria / metabolism*
  • Biofilms
  • Carbon Cycle
  • Ecosystem
  • Energy Metabolism
  • Genome, Bacterial
  • Groundwater
  • Iron Compounds / metabolism*
  • Magnesium Compounds / metabolism*
  • Metagenome
  • Nitrogen Fixation
  • Oceans and Seas
  • Phylogeny
  • Seawater / analysis
  • Seawater / microbiology
  • Silicates / metabolism*

Substances

  • Iron Compounds
  • Magnesium Compounds
  • Silicates
  • basalt
  • olivine