Dominance of Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria, Thiomicrorhabdus, in the Waters Affected by a Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal Plume

Abstract

The shallow-sea hydrothermal vent at Guishan Islet, located off the coast of Taiwan, serves as a remarkable natural site for studying microbial ecology in extreme environments. In April 2019, we investigated the composition of prokaryotic picoplankton communities, their gene expression profiles, and the dissolved inorganic carbon uptake efficiency. Our results revealed that the chemolithotrophs Thiomicrorhabdus spp. contributed to the majority of primary production in the waters affected by the hydrothermal vent plume. The metatranscriptomic analysis aligned with the primary productivity measurements, indicating the significant gene upregulations associated with carboxysome-mediated carbon fixation in Thiomicrorhabdus. Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus served as the prokaryotic photoautotrophs for primary productivity in the waters with lower influence from hydrothermal vent emissions. Thiomicrorhabdus and picocyanobacteria jointly provided organic carbon for sustaining the shallow-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystem. In addition to the carbon fixation, the upregulation of genes involved in the SOX (sulfur-oxidizing) pathway, and the dissimilatory sulfate reduction indicated that energy generation and detoxification co-occurred in Thiomicrorhabdus. This study improved our understanding of the impacts of shallow-sea hydrothermal vents on the operation of marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles.