GNPS - Community-wide interactions sustain life in geothermal spring habitats

We investigated an alga-dominated geothermal spring community in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), USA to determine how the biota cope with abiotic stressors. Microbes showed a community level response to toxic metal resistance and energy cycling that spans the three domains of life. Arsenic detoxification is accomplished via complementary expression of genes by different lineages. Photosynthetic primary production is dominated by the obligate photoautotrophic alga Cyanidioschyzon, with the mixotroph, Galdieria, largely relegated to nighttime heterotrophy. Many key functions, including the cell cycle, are strongly regulated by diurnal fluctuations in light and nutrients. These results demonstrate that biotic interactions are highly structured and constrained in extreme habitats. We suggest this was also the case on the early Earth when geothermal springs were cradles of microbial life.

The work (proposal:https://doi.org/10.46936/10.25585/60000481) conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (https://ror.org/04xm1d337), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.