Rapid metabolism fosters microbial survival in the deep, hot subseafloor 
biosphere

Beulig, F.; Schubert, Florian; Adhikari, R. R.; Glombitza, C.; Heuer, V. B.; Hinrichs, K.-U.; Homola, K. L.; Inagaki, F.; Jørgensen, B. B.; Kallmeyer, J.; Krause, S. J. E.; Morono, Y.; Sauvage, J.; Spivack, A. J.; Treude, T.

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27802-7

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Rapid metabolism fosters microbial survival in the deep, hot subseafloor biosphere

Authors

Beulig, F.
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Schubert, Florian
3.7 Geomicrobiology, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Adhikari, R. R.
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Glombitza, C.
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Heuer, V. B.
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Hinrichs, K.-U.
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Homola, K. L.
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Inagaki, F.
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Jørgensen, B. B.
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Kallmeyer, J.
3.7 Geomicrobiology, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Krause, S. J. E.
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Morono, Y.
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Sauvage, J.
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Spivack, A. J.
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Treude, T.
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Citation

Beulig, F., Schubert, F., Adhikari, R. R., Glombitza, C., Heuer, V. B., Hinrichs, K.-U., Homola, K. L., Inagaki, F., Jørgensen, B. B., Kallmeyer, J., Krause, S. J. E., Morono, Y., Sauvage, J., Spivack, A. J., Treude, T. (2022): Rapid metabolism fosters microbial survival in the deep, hot subseafloor biosphere. - Nature Communications, 13, 312.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27802-7

Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5009686

Abstract

A fourth of the global seabed sediment volume is buried at depths where temperatures exceed 80 °C, a previously proposed thermal barrier for life in the subsurface. Here, we demonstrate, utilizing an extensive suite of radiotracer experiments, the prevalence of active methanogenic and sulfate-reducing populations in deeply buried marine sediment from the Nankai Trough subduction zone, heated to extreme temperature (up to ~120 °C). The small microbial community subsisted with high potential cell-speciﬁc rates of energy metabolism, which approach the rates of active surface sediments and laboratory cultures. Our discovery is in stark contrast to the extremely low metabolic rates otherwise observed in the deep subseaﬂoor. As cells appear to invest most of their energy to repair thermal cell damage in the hot sediment, they are forced to balance delicately between subsistence near the upper temperature limit for life and a rich supply of substrates and energy from thermally driven reactions of the sedimentary organic matter.