Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2006. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 111 (2006): G04016, doi:10.1029/2005JG000097.
Description:
The presence, diversity, and distribution of a key group of subseafloor archaea, the
Thermococcales, was examined in multiple diffuse flow hydrothermal vents at Axial Seamount, an active deep-sea volcano located in the northeast Pacific Ocean. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach was used to determine if this group of subseafloor indicator organisms showed any phylogenetic distribution that may indicate distinct subseafloor communities at vents with
different physical and chemical characteristics. Targeted primers for the Thermococcales 16S rRNA (small subunit ribosomal RNA) gene and intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS) region were
designed and applied to organisms filtered in-situ directly from a variety of diffuse flow vents.
Thermococcales were amplified from 9 of 11 samples examined, and it was determined that the ITS region is a better phylogenetic marker than the 16S rRNA in defining consistent groups of closely related sequences. Results show a relationship between environmental clone distribution
and source vent chemistry. The most highly diluted vents with elevated iron and alkalinity contained a distinct group of Thermococcales as defined by the ITS region, suggesting separate subseafloor Thermococcales populations at diffuse vents within the Axial caldera.
Description:
This work was supported by Washington Sea
Grant (NA76RG0119), National Science Foundation (OCE 9816491), NSF IGERT (DGE-
9870713), NASA Astrobiology Institute through the Carnegie Geophysical Institute, the
NOAA/PMEL Vents Program, NOAA West Coast and Polar Undersea Research Center, and by the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean under NOAA Cooperative Agreement No. NA117RJ1232.
Keywords:
Subseafloor
;
Hydrothermal vent
;
Intergenic Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region
;
Geochemistry
;
Diffuse flow vent
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/pdf
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