International Ocean Discovery Program 385 (IODP 385) drilled 8 sites in Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California, Mexico (Fig. 1). Hydrothermal alteration of buried organic matter produces complex hydrocarbons that together with high temperature, pressure, and variations in nutrient pools present a dynamic and challenging habitat for subsurface microbiota. RNA and DNA recovery declined with depth as did cell counts at all sites. Transcripts support active metabolisms used for energy gain (e.g., methane/acetate cycling, sulfur/nitrogen metabolisms and chemoautotrophy). Expression of genes for genome modifications, DNA maintenance and repair, protein homeostasis and degradation, and tRNA, rRNA and mRNA editing are observed that enable metabolic flexibility and mediate stress-related adaptations of Guaymas microbiota to these deep biosphere conditions. The concerted interaction of many of these genes may be crucial for survival, and in some cases, for activity in the Guaymas Basin subsurface.

Primary Presenter: Virginia Edgcomb, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (vedgcomb@whoi.edu)

Authors:

Virginia Edgcomb, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution  (vedgcomb@whoi.edu)

Paraskevi Mara, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution  (pmara@whoi.edu)

David Geller-McGrath, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution  (mcgrath1@mit.edu)

David Beaudoin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution  (dbeaudoin@whoi.edu)

Andreas Teske, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  (teske@email.unc.edu)