Complex bacterial diversity of Guaymas Basin hydrothermal sediments revealed by synthetic long-read sequencing (LoopSeq)

Hydrothermal sediments host phylogenetically diverse and physiologically complex microbial communities. Previous studies of microbial community structure in hydrothermal sediments have typically used short-read sequencing approaches. To improve on these approaches, we use LoopSeq, a high-throughput synthetic long-read sequencing method that has yielded promising results in analyses of microbial ecosystems, such as the human gut microbiome. In this study, LoopSeq is used to obtain near-full length (approximately 1400 - 1500 bp) bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences from hydrothermal sediments in Guaymas Basin. Our analysis of sediments along well-documented thermal and geochemical gradients show how sulfur-cycling bacteria of different taxonomic groups persist as active catalysts of the sulfur cycle in varying combinations throughout surficial hydrothermal sediments in the Guaymas Basin.

热液沉积物（hydrothermal sediments）蕴含着系统发育多样且生理功能复杂的微生物群落。以往针对热液沉积物微生物群落结构的研究，通常采用短读长测序（short-read sequencing）技术。为优化此类研究方法，本研究采用LoopSeq技术——一种已在人类肠道微生物组等微生物生态系统分析中取得良好应用效果的高通量合成长读长测序方法。本研究利用LoopSeq技术，从瓜伊马斯盆地（Guaymas Basin）的热液沉积物中获取了近全长（约1400~1500 bp）的细菌16S rRNA基因序列。通过对沿已被充分表征的温度与地球化学梯度分布的沉积物开展分析，本研究揭示了不同分类类群的硫循环细菌如何以多样组合形式，作为硫循环的活跃催化因子，持续存在于瓜伊马斯盆地表层热液沉积物中。