Mud breccia recently emitted from subseafloor mud volcano Metagenome

The active Venere Mud Volcano offshore Italy currently exudes mud breccia flows from itssummit and hosts fresh, alkaline, deep-sourced fluids rich in Li and B and depleted in K thatadvect into shallow sediments, providing a window into the deep biosphere. Thaumarchaeotaand Proteobacteria dominate nearly all communities at the summit and nearby flows. Archaealcommunities remain consistent across the flow, suggesting they may be endemic to the deepsubsurface. Three sediment microbial communities from deep-sourced fluids along a transectfrom the summit are identified for proposed metagenomic sequencing. Metabolic gene contentwill be compared between sites to determine the influence of deep fluids on communitystructure and potential function. High abundances of genes involved in anaerobic methaneoxidation and sulfate reduction, ammonium oxidation, and K transport and osmoprotectantsynthesis are anticipated. PI, Scott Klasek Oregon State University. See also PRJNA531342.