title: DEEP BIOSPHERE. Exploring deep microbial life in coal-bearing sediment down to ~2.5 km below the ocean floor.
abstract: Microbial life inhabits deeply buried marine sediments, but the extent of this vast ecosystem remains poorly constrained. Here we provide evidence for the existence of microbial communities in ~40° to 60°C sediment associated with lignite coal beds at ~1.5 to 2.5 km below the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean off Japan. Microbial methanogenesis was indicated by the isotopic compositions of methane and carbon dioxide, biomarkers, cultivation data, and gas compositions. Concentrations of indigenous microbial cells below 1.5 km ranged from <10 to ~10(4) cells cm(-3). Peak concentrations occurred in lignite layers, where communities differed markedly from shallower subseafloor communities and instead resembled organotrophic communities in forest soils. This suggests that terrigenous sediments retain indigenous community members tens of millions of years after burial in the seabed.
authors.affiliation: Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan. Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Inagaki
authors.affiliation: MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: K-U
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Hinrichs
authors.affiliation: Center for Deep-Earth Exploration, JAMSTEC, Yokohama 236-0061, Japan. Research and Development Center for Ocean Drilling Science, JAMSTEC, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.affiliation: MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Bowles
authors.affiliation: MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: V B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Heuer
authors.affiliation: College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: W-L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan. Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoshino
authors.affiliation: Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan. Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ijiri
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan. Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imachi
authors.affiliation: Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan. Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan. Department of Biogeochemistry, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.affiliation: Center for Geomicrobiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lever
authors.affiliation: MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Y-S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Genomics, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Methé
authors.affiliation: Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8567, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.affiliation: Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan. Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morono
authors.affiliation: Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan. Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tanikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Genomics, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bihan
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB2A 3UE, UK.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bowden
authors.affiliation: MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elvert
authors.affiliation: Center for Geomicrobiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Glombitza
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Geosciences and Geophysics, Montanuniversität, 8700 Leoben, Austria.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.affiliation: Environmental Management Research Institute, AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Genomics, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB2A 3UE, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Limmer
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China.
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Marine Core Research, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murayama
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan. Department of Biogeochemistry, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohkouchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.affiliation: Petroleum and Marine Resources Research Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-350, Korea.
authors.forename: Y-S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, D-28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Prieto-Mollar
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Purkey
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Riedinger
authors.affiliation: Center for Deep-Earth Exploration, JAMSTEC, Yokohama 236-0061, Japan. Research and Development Center for Ocean Drilling Science, JAMSTEC, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sanada
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sauvage
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.affiliation: School of Earth Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Susilawati
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Marine Resources, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan. Department of Biogeochemistry, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.affiliation: Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tasumi
authors.affiliation: Marine Works Japan, Yokosuka 237-0063, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Terada
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomaru
authors.affiliation: Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trembath-Reichert
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center for Ocean Drilling Science, JAMSTEC, Yokohama 236-0001, Japan. Department of Urban Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 615-8540, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
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mesh_terms: D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D003031:Coal / Q000382:microbiology*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D007564:Japan; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D017017:Methanococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017021:Methanosarcina barkeri / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D059013:Microbial Consortia; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003031:Coal; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D008697:Methane