TY - JOUR
T1 - Major phylum-level differences between porefluid and host rock bacterial communities in the terrestrial deep subsurface
AU - Momper, Lily
AU - Kiel Reese, Brandi
AU - Zinke, Laura
AU - Wanger, Greg
AU - Osburn, Magdalena R.
AU - Moser, Duane
AU - Amend, Jan P.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute under Cooperative Agreement NNA13AA92A and is contribution number 112. Many people have contributed to the success of this project. Huge thanks are due Karen Momper for her graphics expertise and Sean Jungbluth for his technical assistance. We would also like to recognize the science and support staff at SURF, including Jaret Heiss, Tom Regan and Kathy Hart for making mine access and sample collection possible. We further acknowledge other members of the NAI Life Underground team, including Ken Nealson, Victoria Orphan, Rohit Bhartia, Moh El-Naggar and Yamini Jangir for both physical and intellectual contributions to sample collection and data acquisition. The DNA sequencing was made possible by the DCO’s Census of Deep Life supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Earth's deep subsurface biosphere (DSB) is home to a vast number and wide variety of microorganisms. Although difficult to access and sample, deep subsurface environments have been probed through drilling programs, exploration of mines and sampling of deeply sourced vents and springs. In an effort to understand the ecology of deep terrestrial habitats, we examined bacterial diversity in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), the former Homestake gold mine, in South Dakota, USA. Whole genomic DNA was extracted from deeply circulating groundwater and corresponding host rock (at a depth of 1.45 km below ground surface). Pyrotag DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed diverse communities of putative chemolithoautotrophs, aerobic and anaerobic heterotrophs, numerous candidate phyla and unique rock-associated microbial assemblage. There was a clear and near-total separation of communities between SURF deeply circulating fracture fluids and SURF host-rocks. Sequencing data from SURF compared against five similarly sequenced terrestrial subsurface sites in Europe and North America revealed classes Clostridia and Betaproteobacteria were dominant in terrestrial fluids. This study presents a unique analysis showing differences in terrestrial subsurface microbial communities between fracture fluids and host rock through which those fluids permeate.
AB - Earth's deep subsurface biosphere (DSB) is home to a vast number and wide variety of microorganisms. Although difficult to access and sample, deep subsurface environments have been probed through drilling programs, exploration of mines and sampling of deeply sourced vents and springs. In an effort to understand the ecology of deep terrestrial habitats, we examined bacterial diversity in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), the former Homestake gold mine, in South Dakota, USA. Whole genomic DNA was extracted from deeply circulating groundwater and corresponding host rock (at a depth of 1.45 km below ground surface). Pyrotag DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed diverse communities of putative chemolithoautotrophs, aerobic and anaerobic heterotrophs, numerous candidate phyla and unique rock-associated microbial assemblage. There was a clear and near-total separation of communities between SURF deeply circulating fracture fluids and SURF host-rocks. Sequencing data from SURF compared against five similarly sequenced terrestrial subsurface sites in Europe and North America revealed classes Clostridia and Betaproteobacteria were dominant in terrestrial fluids. This study presents a unique analysis showing differences in terrestrial subsurface microbial communities between fracture fluids and host rock through which those fluids permeate.
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U2 - 10.1111/1758-2229.12563
DO - 10.1111/1758-2229.12563
M3 - Article
C2 - 28677247
AN - SCOPUS:85030997928
VL - 9
SP - 501
EP - 511
JO - Environmental Microbiology Reports
JF - Environmental Microbiology Reports
SN - 1758-2229
IS - 5
ER -