Archive of bacterial community in anhydrite crystals from a deep-sea basin provides evidence of past oil-spilling in a benthic environment in the Red Sea

Yong Wang, Tie Gang Li, Meng Ying Wang, Qi Liang Lai, Jiang Tao Li, Zhao Ming Gao, Zong Ze Shao, Pei Yuan Qian

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

In deep-sea sediment, the microbes present in anhydrite crystals are potential markers of the past environment. In the Atlantis II Deep, anhydrite veins were produced by mild mixture of calcium-rich hydrothermal solutions and sulfate in the bottom water, which had probably preserved microbial inhabitants in the past seafloor of the Red Sea. In this study, this hypothesis was tested by analyzing the metagenome of an anhydrite crystal sample from the Atlantis II Deep. The estimated age of the anhydrite layer was between 750 and 770 years, which might span the event of hydrothermal eruption into the benthic floor. The 16S/18S rRNA genes in the metagenome were assigned to bacteria, archaea, fungi and even invertebrate species. The dominant species in the crystals was an oil-degrading Alcanivorax borkumensis bacterium, which was not detected in the adjacent sediment layer. Fluorescence microscopy using 16S rRNA and marker gene probes revealed intact cells of the Alcanivorax bacterium in the crystals. A draft genome of A. borkumensis was binned from the metagenome. It contained all functional genes for alkane utilization and the reduction of nitrogen oxides. Moreover, the metagenomes of the anhydrites and control sediment contained aromatic degradation pathways, which were mostly derived from Ochrobactrum sp. Altogether, these results indicate an oxic, oil-spilling benthic environment in the Atlantis II basin of the Red Sea in approximately the 14th century. The original microbial inhabitants probably underwent a dramatic selection process via drastic environmental changes following the formation of an overlying anoxic brine pool in the basin due to hydrothermal activities.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)6405-6417
Number of pages13
JournalBiogeosciences
Volume13
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 30 2016
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2022-06-08
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): SA-C0040/UK-C0016
Acknowledgements: This study was supported by the National Science Foundation of China no. 41476104 and no. 31460001 to Yong Wang, and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA-C0040/UK-C0016) to Pei-Yuan Qian. This work was also supported by Hainan international collaborative grant no. KJHZ2015-22.
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Earth-Surface Processes

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