Open AccessBiodiversity hot spot on a hot spot: novel extremophile diversity in Hawaiian fumaroles
Author(s) -
Wall Kate,
Cornell Jennifer,
Bizzoco Richard W.,
Kelley Scott T.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
microbiologyopen
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.881
H-Index - 36
ISSN - 2045-8827
DOI - 10.1002/mbo3.236
Subject(s) - extremophile , fumarole , extreme environment , phylogenetic diversity , biodiversity , operational taxonomic unit , biology , phylogenetic tree , biogeochemical cycle , ecology , 16s ribosomal rna , geothermal gradient , evolutionary biology , thermophile , earth science , geology , paleontology , genetics , gene , bacteria
Abstract Fumaroles (steam vents) are the most common, yet least understood, microbial habitat in terrestrial geothermal settings. Long believed too extreme for life, recent advances in sample collection and DNA extraction methods have found that fumarole deposits and subsurface waters harbor a considerable diversity of viable microbes. In this study, we applied culture‐independent molecular methods to explore fumarole deposit microbial assemblages in 15 different fumaroles in four geographic locations on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Just over half of the vents yielded sufficient high‐quality DNA for the construction of 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence clone libraries. The bacterial clone libraries contained sequences belonging to 11 recognized bacterial divisions and seven other division‐level phylogenetic groups. Archaeal sequences were less numerous, but similarly diverse. The taxonomic composition among fumarole deposits was highly heterogeneous. Phylogenetic analysis found cloned fumarole sequences were related to microbes identified from a broad array of globally distributed ecotypes, including hot springs, terrestrial soils, and industrial waste sites. Our results suggest that fumarole deposits function as an “extremophile collector” and may be a hot spot of novel extremophile biodiversity.