title: Genomic and transcriptomic evidence for scavenging of diverse organic compounds by widespread deep-sea archaea.
abstract: Microbial activity is one of the most important processes to mediate the flux of organic carbon from the ocean surface to the seafloor. However, little is known about the microorganisms that underpin this key step of the global carbon cycle in the deep oceans. Here we present genomic and transcriptomic evidence that five ubiquitous archaeal groups actively use proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids and lipids as sources of carbon and energy at depths ranging from 800 to 4,950 m in hydrothermal vent plumes and pelagic background seawater across three different ocean basins. Genome-enabled metabolic reconstructions and gene expression patterns show that these marine archaea are motile heterotrophs with extensive mechanisms for scavenging organic matter. Our results shed light on the ecological and physiological properties of ubiquitous marine archaea and highlight their versatile metabolic strategies in deep oceans that might play a critical role in global carbon cycling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Department of Marine Science, University of Texas Austin, Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, Texas 78373, USA.
authors.forename: Brett J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Karthik
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anantharaman
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Sunit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.|University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, Texas 78520, USA.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Breier
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.|Center of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Dick
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism / Q000235:genetics*; D002241:Carbohydrates; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D057486:Carbon Cycle / Q000235:genetics*; D017691:Caribbean Region; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D023281:Genomics; D060086:Hydrothermal Vents / Q000382:microbiology*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000235:genetics*; D008055:Lipids; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008055:Lipids; D011506:Proteins; D002244:Carbon