Peninsula Iberica serpentinization-driven deep aquifer metagenomes

Several serpentinization driven aquifers have been detected all around the world, but thorough studies of this extreme ecosystems are scarse. Recently the microbial diversity characterization was performed in several of these ecosystems, unvailing a low diversity but well adapted microbial comunity, where the majority of the populations belonged to Clostridia and Proteobacteria. Despite that, studies that characterize the energetic pathways present in such environments are scarse, and to our knowledge only two have been published; Tiago and Veríssimo (2013), using total environmental DNA PCR screening, detected carbon fixating enzyme form I RuBisCO (cbbL gene) in CVA, and additionally provided evidences that the energy network and carbon cycling was most probably related to sulfur and methane cycles and Brazelton et al. (2012) provided metagenomic evidences of the existence of potential for H2-powered primary production and of the presence of the anaerobic carbon fixation via Wood–Ljungdahl pathway in serpentinite-hosted deep subsurface habitats. Together, these studies demonstrated that despite microbial phylogenetic groups are apparently identical, the energy network and the carbon cycling existing in each ecosystem can be rather different, and may be very dependent of the unique gas-geochemical and geology characteristics of each environment. The objective of this proposal is to conduct the shotgun metagenomic analyses of three deep serpentinization driven aquifers located in Portugal and Spain. All aquifers are serpentinization driven deep aquifers, with high pH (>11), high reducers conditions (Eh <-200), and with considerable amounts of methane and hydrogen. This will provide important data for the characterization and comparison of the energetic pathways present in these ecosystems with similar ones from other locations.PI: Igor Tiago