HR: 1330h
AN: B12A-0758    [PDF]
TI: Microbial Diversity at the Low-Temperature Hydrothermal Vents of the Galapagos Rift
AU: * Page, A
EM: apage@pdx.edu
AF: Portland State University, Department of Biology, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97201 United States
AU: Ward, N
EM: nward@tigr.org
AF: The Institute for Genomic Research, 9712 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 United States
AU: Shank, T M
EM: tshank@whoi.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biology Department, Woods Hole, MA 02543 United States
AU: Farhang, B
EM: borzou@pdx.edu
AF: Portland State University, Department of Biology, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97201 United States
AU: Reysenbach, A
EM: reysenbacha@pdx.edu
AF: Portland State University, Department of Biology, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97201 United States
AB: Deep-sea hydrothermal vents were discovered more than 20 years ago at the Galapagos Rift. However, no systematic assessment of the microbial diversity has been done at this historic site. In May 2002, we revisited the Galapagos Rift, noted many changes at the former active sites and discovered new vent fields. The microbial diversity associated with water and rock samples was determined using a molecular phylogenetic approach based on the small subunit rRNA. Both typical vent and non-vent microbes were detected, such as epsilon- and gamma-Proteobacteria respectively. The archaeal diversity included members of the marine crenarchaeal group I, and euryarchaeal group II and III. Similar microbial diversity has been observed at other low-temperature deep-sea vent sites of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and Loihi Seamount. Such communities are probably restricted to areas where low temperature fluids are discharged at low velocities. In these conditions, opportunistic seawater microbes may share the same ecological niches as vent microorganisms. The presence of epsilon-Proteobacteria at the Galapagos Rift further confirm the global distribution of this group at deep-sea vents.
DE: 4832 Hydrothermal systems
DE: 4840 Microbiology
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting