Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Plume
The shallow-sea hydrothermal vent at Guishan Islet, located off the coast of Taiwan, serves as a remarkable natural site for studying microbial ecology in extreme environments. In April 2019, we investigated the composition of prokaryotic picoplankton communities, their gene expression profiles, and...
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2025-01-01
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author | Chih-Ching Chung Gwo-Ching Gong Hsiao-Chun Tseng Wen-Chen Chou Chuan-Hsin Ho |
author_facet | Chih-Ching Chung Gwo-Ching Gong Hsiao-Chun Tseng Wen-Chen Chou Chuan-Hsin Ho |
author_sort | Chih-Ching Chung |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The shallow-sea hydrothermal vent at Guishan Islet, located off the coast of Taiwan, serves as a remarkable natural site for studying microbial ecology in extreme environments. In April 2019, we investigated the composition of prokaryotic picoplankton communities, their gene expression profiles, and the dissolved inorganic carbon uptake efficiency. Our results revealed that the chemolithotrophs <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i> spp. contributed to the majority of primary production in the waters affected by the hydrothermal vent plume. The metatranscriptomic analysis aligned with the primary productivity measurements, indicating the significant gene upregulations associated with carboxysome-mediated carbon fixation in <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>. <i>Synechococcus</i> and <i>Prochlorococcus</i> served as the prokaryotic photoautotrophs for primary productivity in the waters with lower influence from hydrothermal vent emissions. <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i> and picocyanobacteria jointly provided organic carbon for sustaining the shallow-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystem. In addition to the carbon fixation, the upregulation of genes involved in the SOX (sulfur-oxidizing) pathway, and the dissimilatory sulfate reduction indicated that energy generation and detoxification co-occurred in <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>. This study improved our understanding of the impacts of shallow-sea hydrothermal vents on the operation of marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. |
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institution | Kabale University |
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language | English |
publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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spelling | doaj-art-70e1480c7ae544ad866dc5c726a9704c2025-01-24T13:23:21ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372025-01-011412810.3390/biology14010028Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal PlumeChih-Ching Chung0Gwo-Ching Gong1Hsiao-Chun Tseng2Wen-Chen Chou3Chuan-Hsin Ho4Institute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202, TaiwanInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202, TaiwanInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202, TaiwanInstitute of Marine Environment and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202, TaiwanDepartment of Science Education, National Taipei University of Education, 134 Section 2, Heping East Road, Taipei City 106, TaiwanThe shallow-sea hydrothermal vent at Guishan Islet, located off the coast of Taiwan, serves as a remarkable natural site for studying microbial ecology in extreme environments. In April 2019, we investigated the composition of prokaryotic picoplankton communities, their gene expression profiles, and the dissolved inorganic carbon uptake efficiency. Our results revealed that the chemolithotrophs <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i> spp. contributed to the majority of primary production in the waters affected by the hydrothermal vent plume. The metatranscriptomic analysis aligned with the primary productivity measurements, indicating the significant gene upregulations associated with carboxysome-mediated carbon fixation in <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>. <i>Synechococcus</i> and <i>Prochlorococcus</i> served as the prokaryotic photoautotrophs for primary productivity in the waters with lower influence from hydrothermal vent emissions. <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i> and picocyanobacteria jointly provided organic carbon for sustaining the shallow-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystem. In addition to the carbon fixation, the upregulation of genes involved in the SOX (sulfur-oxidizing) pathway, and the dissimilatory sulfate reduction indicated that energy generation and detoxification co-occurred in <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>. This study improved our understanding of the impacts of shallow-sea hydrothermal vents on the operation of marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/1/28hydrothermal ventchemolithotrophpicoplankton |
spellingShingle | Chih-Ching Chung Gwo-Ching Gong Hsiao-Chun Tseng Wen-Chen Chou Chuan-Hsin Ho Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Plume Biology hydrothermal vent chemolithotroph picoplankton |
title | Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Plume |
title_full | Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Plume |
title_fullStr | Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Plume |
title_full_unstemmed | Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Plume |
title_short | Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, <i>Thiomicrorhabdus</i>, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Plume |
title_sort | dominance of sulfur oxidizing bacteria i thiomicrorhabdus i in the waters affected by a shallow sea hydrothermal plume |
topic | hydrothermal vent chemolithotroph picoplankton |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/1/28 |
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