Archaea in coastal marine environments.

TLDR

Archaea are a diverse group of microorganisms, classified into methanogens, extreme halophiles, sulfate‑reducing archaea, and extreme thermophiles, and are typically found in anaerobic sediments, hydrothermal vents, or highly saline environments. This report provides evidence for the widespread occurrence of unusual archaea in oxygenated coastal surface waters of North America. Archaeal small‑subunit rRNA‑encoding DNAs were cloned from mixed bacterioplankton populations collected at geographically distant sampling sites. Quantitative analysis showed that up to 2 % of ribosomal RNA in coastal bacterioplankton was archaeal, with two distinct lineages identified across both east and west North American coasts, indicating the presence of previously undescribed, physiologically active archaea that coexist with aerobic mesophilic bacteria.

Abstract

Archaea (archaebacteria) are a phenotypically diverse group of microorganisms that share a common evolutionary history. There are four general phenotypic groups of archaea: the methanogens, the extreme halophiles, the sulfate-reducing archaea, and the extreme thermophiles. In the marine environment, archaeal habitats are generally limited to shallow or deep-sea anaerobic sediments (free-living and endosymbiotic methanogens), hot springs or deep-sea hydrothermal vents (methanogens, sulfate reducers, and extreme thermophiles), and highly saline land-locked seas (halophiles). This report provides evidence for the widespread occurrence of unusual archaea in oxygenated coastal surface waters of North America. Quantitative estimates indicated that up to 2% of the total ribosomal RNA extracted from coastal bacterioplankton assemblages was archaeal. Archaeal small-subunit ribosomal RNA-encoding DNAs (rDNAs) were cloned from mixed bacterioplankton populations collected at geographically distant sampling sites. Phylogenetic and nucleotide signature analyses of these cloned rDNAs revealed the presence of two lineages of archaea, each sharing the diagnostic signatures and structural features previously established for the domain Archaea. Both of these lineages were found in bacterioplankton populations collected off the east and west coasts of North America. The abundance and distribution of these archaea in oxic coastal surface waters suggests that these microorganisms represent undescribed physiological types of archaea, which reside and compete with aerobic, mesophilic eubacteria in marine coastal environments.