A new special issue of Frontiers in Microbiology entitled Recent Advances in Geomicrobiology of the Ocean Crust features papers from numerous DCO scientists.
The special issue includes papers published in the past two years that focus on the diversity and metabolism of microbes living beneath the seafloor, and how the interactions between water, rock, and microbes in the ocean crust contribute to global biogeochemical cycles. Deep Life Community members Beth Orcutt (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, USA) and Jason Sylvan (Texas A&M University, USA), along with Cara Santelli (University of Minnesota, USA) co-edited the special issue.
The issue is dedicated to the memory of Katrina J. Edwards (1968–2014; pictured), a pioneering geomicrobiologist who initiated early investigations into microbes that live beneath the seafloor. Edwards founded the $50 Million dollar Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) and led international ocean drilling program studies into the marine crustal deep biosphere. She was a member of the DCO Deep Life Community and, with DCO funding, spearheaded development of a microscopic tool for identifying microbes on surfaces extracted from borehole materials. Edwards is a co-author on five of the papers included in the special issue, demonstrating her lasting contributions to the field.
Image: Katrina J. Edwards (1968–2014), a visionary geomicrobiologist who promoted the study of microbes that “rust the crust,” breaking open a seafloor basalt from the North Pond study site in 2012. Credit: Beth Orcutt.
CONTENTS
Editorial: Recent Advances in Geomicrobiology of the Ocean Crust. B N. Orcutt, J. B. Sylvan, C. M. Santelli
Submarine Basaltic Glass Colonization by the Heterotrophic Fe(II)-Oxidizing and Siderophore-Producing Deep-Sea Bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri VS-10: The Potential Role of Basalt in Enhancing Growth L. A. Sudek, G. Wanger, A. S. Templeton, Hubert Staudigel, Bradley M. Tebo
The Architecture of Iron Microbial Mats Reflects the Adaptation of Chemolithotrophic Iron Oxidation in Freshwater and Marine Environments C. S. Chan, S. M. McAllister, A. H. Leavitt, B. T. Glazer, S. T. Krepski, D. Emerson
Microbial Inventory of Deeply Buried Oceanic Crust from a Young Ridge Flank S. L. Jørgensen, R. Zhao
In Situ Microbial Community Succession on Mild Steel in Estuarine and Marine Environments: Exploring the Role of Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria J. M. McBeth, D. Emerson
Iron Transformation Pathways and Redox Micro-Environments in Seafloor Sulfide-Mineral Deposits: Spatially Resolved Fe XAS and δ57/54Fe Observations B. M. Toner, O. J. Rouxel, C. M. Santelli, W. Bach, K. J. Edwards
Deep Subsurface Life from North Pond: Enrichment, Isolation, Characterization and Genomes of Heterotrophic Bacteria J. A. Russell, R. León-Zayas, K. Wrighton, Jennifer F. Biddle
Nanocalorimetric Characterization of Microbial Activity in Deep Subsurface Oceanic Crustal Fluids A. Robador, D. E. LaRowe, S. P. Jungbluth, H. Lin, M. S. Rappé, K. H. Nealson, J. P. Amend
Temperature and Redox Effect on Mineral Colonization in Juan de Fuca Ridge Flank Subsurface Crustal Fluids J. M. Baquiran, G. A. Ramírez, A. G. Haddad, B. M. Toner, S. Hulme, C. G. Wheat, K. J. Edwards, B. N. Orcutt
Diversity and Metabolic Potentials of Subsurface Crustal Microorganisms from the Western Flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge X. Zhang, X. Feng, F. Wang
The Guaymas Basin Hiking Guide to Hydrothermal Mounds, Chimneys, and Microbial Mats: Complex Seafloor Expressions of Subsurface Hydrothermal Circulation A. Teske, D. de Beer, L. J. McKay, M. K. Tivey, J. F. Biddle, D. Hoer, K. G. Lloyd, M. A. Lever, H. Røy, D. B. Albert, H. P. Mendlovitz, B. J. MacGregor
Some Compositional and Kinetic Controls on the Bioenergetic Landscapes in Oceanic Basement W. Bach
Radiolytic Hydrogen Production in the Subseafloor Basaltic Aquifer M. E. Dzaugis, A. J. Spivack, A. G. Dunlea, R. W. Murray, S. D’Hondt
Structural Iron (II) of Basaltic Glass as an Energy Source for Zetaproteobacteria in an Abyssal Plain Environment, Off the Mid Atlantic Ridge P. A. Henri, C. Rommevaux-Jestin, F. Lesongeur, A. Mumford, D. Emerson, A. Godfroyand, Bénédicte Ménez
Microbial Communities on Seafloor Basalts at Dorado Outcrop Reflect Level of Alteration and Highlight Global Lithic Clades M. D. Lee, N. G. Walworth, J. B. Sylvan, K. J. Edwards, B. N. Orcutt
Key Factors Influencing Rates of Heterotrophic Sulfate Reduction in Active Seafloor Hydrothermal Massive Sulfide Deposits K. L. Frank, K. L. Rogers, D. R. Rogers, D. T. Johnston, P. R. Girguis
Similar Microbial Communities Found on Two Distant Seafloor Basalts E. Singer, L. S. Chong, J. F. Heidelberg, K. J. Edwards
Comparative Genomic Insights into Ecophysiology of Neutrophilic, Microaerophilic Iron Oxidizing Bacteria S. Kato, M. Ohkuma, D. H. Powell, S. T. Krepski, K. Oshima, M. Hattori, N. Shapiro, T. Woyke, C. S. Chan
In situ Detection of Microbial Life in the Deep Biosphere in Igneous Ocean Crust E. C. Salas, R. Bhartia, L. Anderson, W. F. Hug, R. D. Reid, G. Iturrino, K. J. Edwards
Temperature and pressure adaptation of a sulfate reducer from the deep subsurface K. Fichtel, J. Logemann, J. Fichtel, J. Rullkötter, H. Cypionka, B. Engelen
Biogeography and evolution of Thermococcus isolates from hydrothermal vent systems of the Pacific M. T. Price, H. Fullerton, C. L. Moyer
Carbon fixation by basalt-hosted microbial communities B. N. Orcutt, J. B. Sylvan, D. Rogers, J. Delaney, R. W. Lee, P. R. Girguis
