Jennifer L. Salerno

George Mason University

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Melanie Damour

Ocean Energy (Norway)

Leila J. Hamdan

United Arab Emirates University

Cindy Lee Van Dover

Marine Conservation Institute

Stephen A. Macko

University of Virginia

Brian W. Bowen

University of Hawaii System

Rochelle D. Seitz

William & Mary

Mary Turnipseed

University of California, Santa Barbara

Shana K. Goffredi

Occidental College

Rachel D. Moseley

University of Southern Mississippi

Allen Reed

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Cooperative Institutions

William & Mary

Williams (United States)

University of Southern Mississippi

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of California, San Diego

Planetary Science Institute

Georgia Institute of Technology

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Biogeography of planktonic and coral-associated microorganisms across the Hawaiian Archipelago

FEMS Microbiology Ecology (2016)

Jennifer L. Salerno Brian W. Bowen Michael S. Rappé

Factors driving the distribution of marine microorganisms are widely debated and poorly understood. Recent studies show that free-living marine microbes exhibit geographical patterns indicative of limited dispersal. In contrast, host-associated microbes face a different set of dispersal challenges, and hosts may function as habitat 'islands' for resident microbial populations. Here, we examine the biogeographical distributions of planktonic and adjacent coral-associated bacterial communities across the Hawaiian Archipelago, Johnston Atoll (∼1400 km southwest of Hawaii) and American Samoa in the Pacific Ocean and investigate the potential underlying processes driving observed patterns. Statistical analyses of bacterial community structure, determined using a small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene-based approach, showed that bacterioplankton and coral-associated bacterial communities were distinct, and correlated with geographical distance between sites. In addition, biogeographical patterns of bacterial associates paralleled those of their host coral Porites lobata, highlighting the specificity of these associations and the impact that host dispersal may have on bacterial biogeography. Planktonic and coral-associated bacterial communities from distant Johnston Atoll were shown to be connected with communities from the center of the Hawaiian Archipelago, a pattern previously observed in fish and invertebrates. No significant correlations were detected with habitat type, temperature or depth. However, non-distance-based geographical groupings were detected, indicating that, in addition to dispersal, unidentified environmental factors also affected the distributions of bacterial communities investigated here.

Archipelago

Insular biogeography

10.1093/femsec/fiw109

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Citations (14)

Characterization of Symbiont Populations in Life-History Stages of Mussels From Chemosynthetic Environments

Biological Bulletin (2005)

Jennifer L. Salerno Stephen A. Macko Steve J. Hallam Monika Bright Yong‐Jin Won

The densities of chemoautotrophic and methanotrophic symbiont morphotypes were determined in life- history stages (post-larvae, juveniles, adults) of two species of mussels (Bathymodiolus azoricus and B. heckerae) from deep-sea chemosynthetic environments (the Lucky Strike hydrothermal vent and the Blake Ridge cold seep) in the Atlantic Ocean. Both symbiont morphotypes were observed in all specimens and in the same relative proportions, regardless of life-history stage. The relative abundance of symbiont morphotypes, determined by transmission electron microscopy, was different in the two species: chemoautotrophs were dominant (13:1–18:1) in B. azoricus from the vent site; methanotrophs were dominant (2:1–3:1) in B. heckerae from the seep site. The ratio of CH4:H2S is proposed as a determinant of the relative abundance of symbiont types: where CH4:H2S is less than 1, as at the Lucky Strike site, chemoautotrophic symbionts dominate; where CH4:H2S is greater than 2, as at the seep site, methanotrophs dominate. Organic carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of B. azoricus (δ13C = −30‰; δ15N = −9‰) and B. heckerae (δ13C = −56‰; δ15N = −2‰) varied little among life-history stages and provided no record of a larval diet of photosynthetically derived organic material in the post-larval and juvenile stages.

Chemosynthesis

Cold seep

Petroleum seep

10.2307/3593123

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The impact of the Deepwater Horizon blowout on historic shipwreck-associated sediment microbiomes in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Scientific Reports (2018)

Leila J. Hamdan Jennifer L. Salerno Allen Reed Samantha B. Joye Melanie Damour

More than 2,000 historic shipwrecks spanning 500 years of history, rest on the Gulf of Mexico seafloor. Shipwrecks serve as artificial reefs and hotspots of biodiversity by providing hard substrate, something rare in deep ocean regions. The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill discharged crude oil into the deep Gulf. Because of physical, biological, and chemical interactions, DWH oil was deposited on the seafloor, where historic shipwrecks are present. This study examined sediment microbiomes at seven historic shipwrecks. Steel-hulled, World War II-era shipwrecks and wooden-hulled, 19th century shipwrecks within and outside of the surface oiled area and subsurface plume were examined. Analysis of 16S rRNA sequence libraries, sediment radiocarbon age data, sedimentation rates, and hydrocarbons revealed that the German U-boat U-166 and the wooden-hulled sailing vessel known as the Mardi Gras Wreck, both in the Mississippi Canyon leasing area, were exposed to deposited oil during a rapid sedimentation event. Impacts to shipwreck microbiomes included a significant increase in Piscirickettsiaceae-related sequences in surface sediments, and reduced biodiversity relative to unimpacted sites. This study is the first to address the impact of the spill on shipwreck-associated microbiomes, and to explore how shipwrecks themselves influence microbiome diversity in the deep sea.

Seafloor Spreading

Deepwater Horizon

10.1038/s41598-018-27350-z

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Citations (32)

Blake Ridge methane seeps: characterization of a soft-sediment, chemosynthetically based ecosystem

Deep Sea Research Part I Oceanographic Research Papers (2003)

Cindy Lee Van Dover Paul Aharon Joan M. Bernhard E. Caylor M.B. Doerries

Chemosynthesis

Petroleum seep

Cold seep

10.1016/s0967-0637(02)00162-0

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Deep-sea shipwrecks represent island-like ecosystems for marine microbiomes

The ISME Journal (2021)

Leila J. Hamdan Justyna J. Hampel Rachel D. Moseley Rachel L. Mugge Anirban Ray

Biogeography of macro- and micro-organisms in the deep sea is, in part, shaped by naturally occurring heterogeneous habitat features of geological and biological origin such as seeps, vents, seamounts, whale and wood-falls. Artificial features including shipwrecks and energy infrastructure shape the biogeographic patterns of macro-organisms; how they influence microorganisms is unclear. Shipwrecks may function as islands of biodiversity for microbiomes, creating a patchwork of habitats with influence radiating out into the seabed. Here we show microbiome richness and diversity increase as a function of proximity to the historic deep-sea shipwreck Anona in the Gulf of Mexico. Diversity and richness extinction plots provide evidence of an island effect on microbiomes. A halo of core taxa on the seabed was observed up to 200 m away from the wreck indicative of the transition zone from shipwreck habitat to the surrounding environment. Transition zones around natural habitat features are often small in area compared to what was observed at Anona indicating shipwrecks may exert a large sphere of influence on seabed microbiomes. Historic shipwrecks are abundant, isolated habitats with global distribution, providing a means to explore contemporary processes shaping biogeography on the seafloor. This work is a case study for how built environments impact microbial biodiversity and provides new information on how arrival of material to the seafloor shapes benthic microbiomes.

Seamount

Seafloor Spreading

Marine habitats

Marine ecosystem

Marine reserve

Marine Biology

10.1038/s41396-021-00978-y

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Citations (30)