Parameters Governing the Community Structure and Element Turnover in Kermadec Volcanic Ash and Hydrothermal Fluids as Monitored by Inorganic Electron Donor Consumption, Autotrophic CO2 Fixation and 16S Tags of the Transcriptome in Incubation Experiments

Abstract

The microbial community composition and its functionality was assessed for hydrothermal fluids and volcanic ash sediments from Haungaroa and hydrothermal fluids from the Brothers volcano in the Kermadec island arc (New Zealand). The Haungaroa volcanic ash sediments were dominated by epsilonproteobacterial <i>Sulfurovum</i> sp. Ratios of electron donor consumption to CO₂ fixation from respective sediment incubations indicated that sulfide oxidation appeared to fuel autotrophic CO₂ fixation, coinciding with thermodynamic estimates predicting sulfide oxidation as the major energy source in the environment. Transcript analyses with the sulfide-supplemented sediment slurries demonstrated that <i>Sulfurovum</i> prevailed in the experiments as well. Hence, our sediment incubations appeared to simulate environmental conditions well suggesting that sulfide oxidation catalyzed by <i>Sulfurovum</i> members drive biomass synthesis in the volcanic ash sediments. For the Haungaroa fluids no inorganic electron donor and responsible microorganisms could be identified that clearly stimulated autotrophic CO₂ fixation. In the Brothers hydrothermal fluids <i>Sulfurimonas</i> (49%) and <i>Hydrogenovibrio/Thiomicrospira</i> (15%) species prevailed. Respective fluid incubations exhibited highest autotrophic CO₂ fixation if supplemented with iron(II) or hydrogen. Likewise catabolic energy calculations predicted primarily iron(II) but also hydrogen oxidation as major energy sources in the natural fluids. According to transcript analyses with material from the incubation experiments <i>Thiomicrospira/Hydrogenovibrio</i> species dominated, outcompeting <i>Sulfurimonas</i>. Given that experimental conditions likely only simulated environmental conditions that cause <i>Thiomicrospira/Hydrogenovibrio</i> but not <i>Sulfurimonas</i> to thrive, it remains unclear which environmental parameters determine <i>Sulfurimonas'</i> dominance in the Brothers natural hydrothermal fluids.