Microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere: Progress and prospects
The vast marine deep biosphere consists of microbial habitats within sediment, pore waters, upper basaltic crust and the fluids that circulate throughout it. A wide range of temperature, pressure, pH, and electron donor and acceptor conditions exists – all of which can combine to affect carbon and n...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2013.00189/full |
| _version_ | 1818128874804871168 |
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| author | Beth N Orcutt Douglas E. LaRowe Jennifer F Biddle Frederick S. Colwell Brian T. Glazer Brandi Kiel Reese John B Kirkpatrick Laura L Lapham Heath J. Mills Jason B Sylvan Scott D Wankel C Geoff Wheat |
| author_facet | Beth N Orcutt Douglas E. LaRowe Jennifer F Biddle Frederick S. Colwell Brian T. Glazer Brandi Kiel Reese John B Kirkpatrick Laura L Lapham Heath J. Mills Jason B Sylvan Scott D Wankel C Geoff Wheat |
| author_sort | Beth N Orcutt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The vast marine deep biosphere consists of microbial habitats within sediment, pore waters, upper basaltic crust and the fluids that circulate throughout it. A wide range of temperature, pressure, pH, and electron donor and acceptor conditions exists – all of which can combine to affect carbon and nutrient cycling and result in gradients on spatial scales ranging from millimeters to kilometers. Diverse and mostly uncharacterized microorganisms live in these habitats, and potentially play a role in mediating global scale biogeochemical processes. Quantifying the rates at which microbial activity in the subsurface occurs is a challenging endeavor, yet developing an understanding of these rates is essential to determine the impact of subsurface life on Earth's global biogeochemical cycles, and for understanding how microorganisms in these "extreme" environments survive (or even thrive). Here, we synthesize recent advances and discoveries pertaining to microbial activity in the marine deep subsurface, and we highlight topics about which there is still little understanding and suggest potential paths forward to address them. This publication is the result of a workshop held in August 2012 by the NSF-funded Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) "theme team" on microbial activity (www.darkenergybiosphere.org). |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:40:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85ea703ad5514079a48e02bfd2572da5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:40:11Z |
| publishDate | 2013-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-85ea703ad5514079a48e02bfd2572da52022-12-22T01:15:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2013-07-01410.3389/fmicb.2013.0018952401Microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere: Progress and prospectsBeth N Orcutt0Douglas E. LaRowe1Jennifer F Biddle2Frederick S. Colwell3Brian T. Glazer4Brandi Kiel Reese5John B Kirkpatrick6Laura L Lapham7Heath J. Mills8Jason B Sylvan9Scott D Wankel10C Geoff Wheat11Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean SciencesUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of DelawareOregon State UniversityUniversity of Hawai'i at ManoaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Rhode IslandUniversity of Maryland Center for Environmental SciencesTexas A&M UniversityUniversity of Southern CaliforniaWoods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionUniversity of Alaska, FairbanksThe vast marine deep biosphere consists of microbial habitats within sediment, pore waters, upper basaltic crust and the fluids that circulate throughout it. A wide range of temperature, pressure, pH, and electron donor and acceptor conditions exists – all of which can combine to affect carbon and nutrient cycling and result in gradients on spatial scales ranging from millimeters to kilometers. Diverse and mostly uncharacterized microorganisms live in these habitats, and potentially play a role in mediating global scale biogeochemical processes. Quantifying the rates at which microbial activity in the subsurface occurs is a challenging endeavor, yet developing an understanding of these rates is essential to determine the impact of subsurface life on Earth's global biogeochemical cycles, and for understanding how microorganisms in these "extreme" environments survive (or even thrive). Here, we synthesize recent advances and discoveries pertaining to microbial activity in the marine deep subsurface, and we highlight topics about which there is still little understanding and suggest potential paths forward to address them. This publication is the result of a workshop held in August 2012 by the NSF-funded Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) "theme team" on microbial activity (www.darkenergybiosphere.org).http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2013.00189/fullsedimentbiogeochemistrydeep biospheresubsurface microbiologyC-DEBIIODP |
| spellingShingle | Beth N Orcutt Douglas E. LaRowe Jennifer F Biddle Frederick S. Colwell Brian T. Glazer Brandi Kiel Reese John B Kirkpatrick Laura L Lapham Heath J. Mills Jason B Sylvan Scott D Wankel C Geoff Wheat Microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere: Progress and prospects Frontiers in Microbiology sediment biogeochemistry deep biosphere subsurface microbiology C-DEBI IODP |
| title | Microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere: Progress and prospects |
| title_full | Microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere: Progress and prospects |
| title_fullStr | Microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere: Progress and prospects |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere: Progress and prospects |
| title_short | Microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere: Progress and prospects |
| title_sort | microbial activity in the marine deep biosphere progress and prospects |
| topic | sediment biogeochemistry deep biosphere subsurface microbiology C-DEBI IODP |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmicb.2013.00189/full |
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