State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Key Laboratory of Marine Mineral Resources, Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, Guangzhou, 510070, China.
Environ Microbiol Rep. 2017 Aug;9(4):374-382. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12539. Epub 2017 May 29.
The archaeal phylum Bathyarchaeota, which is composed of a large number of diverse lineages, is widespread and abundant in marine sediments. Environmental factors that control the distribution, abundance and evolution of this largely diversified archaeal phylum are currently unclear. In this study, a new pair of specific primers that target the major marine subgroups of bathyarchaeotal 16S rRNA genes was designed and evaluated to investigate the distribution and abundance of Bathyarchaeota in marine sediments. The abundance of Bathyarchaeota along two sediment cores from the deep-sea sediments of South China Sea (SCS, each from the Dongsha and Shenhu area) was determined. A strong correlation was found between the bathyarchaeotal abundance and the content of total organic carbon (TOC), suggesting an important role of Bathyarchaeota in organic matter remineralisation in the sediments of SCS. Furthermore, diversity analysis revealed that subgroups Bathy-2, Bathy-8 and Bathy-10 were dominant bathyarchaeotal members of the deep-sea sediments in the SCS. Bathy-8 was found predominantly within the reducing and deeper sediment layers, while Bathy-10 occurred preferentially in the oxidizing and shallower sediment layers. Our study lays a foundation for the further understanding of the ecological functions and niche differentiation of the important but not well-understood sedimentary archaeal group.
古菌门 Bathyarchaeota 由大量不同的谱系组成，广泛存在于海洋沉积物中，且丰度较高。目前尚不清楚控制这一高度多样化古菌门分布、丰度和进化的环境因素。本研究设计并评估了一对新的针对海洋 Bathyarchaeota 16S rRNA 基因主要海洋亚群的特异性引物，以研究海洋沉积物中 Bathyarchaeota 的分布和丰度。测定了南海深海沉积物（东沙和神狐海域各 1 个岩芯）中 Bathyarchaeota 的丰度。Bathyarchaeota 的丰度与总有机碳（TOC）含量之间存在很强的相关性，表明 Bathyarchaeota 在南海沉积物中有机质再矿化过程中起着重要作用。此外，多样性分析表明，Bathy-2、Bathy-8 和 Bathy-10 亚群是南海深海沉积物中主要的 Bathyarchaeota 成员。Bathy-8 主要存在于还原和较深的沉积物层中，而 Bathy-10 则优先存在于氧化和较浅的沉积物层中。本研究为进一步了解这一重要但尚未充分了解的沉积古菌群的生态功能和生态位分化奠定了基础。
