Exploring the role of organotrophic microbes in geochemical cycling of cold seep sediments
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GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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Cold seep sediment prokaryotic lineages exhibit habitat preference.
Lineages involved in geochemical cycling of carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen can also utilize biomacromolecules.
Chitin is characterized as one of the most abundant biomacromolecule and an enduring impact of seep activity.
Coexistence of chitin and nitrogen metabolic pathways suggests chemoorganotroph-driven N cycling in cold seep.
The cold seep derived chitinase exhibits increased activity under conditions of 15 MPa and 4°C.
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ABSTRACT
Owing to the high productivity of cold seep ecosystems, sediments are often enriched in organic compounds, such as biomacromolecules, which may serve as resources for local microbial communities. In this study, we investigated the sedimental microbiome of the Haima cold seep with 225 nonredundant metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). Among these, 68 MAGs affiliated with 12 phyla were prevalent to active or extinct cold seep habitats. They primarily harbored the key genes linked to carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles. In addition, most of them potentially engaged in hydrocarbon and biomacromolecule metabolisms, suggesting an essential role of organic compounds in geochemical cycling in cold seeps. Notably, a proteobacterial lineage prevalent in active and extinct habitats, coinciding with the presence of benthic fauna, was found carrying genes for chitin and nitrogen metabolisms, indicating its significance in local chitin recycling. Further enzymatic analysis showed that the chitinase of this lineage remained structurally stable but displayed a significant enhancement in enzymatic activity to 133.95 ± 0.89 μmol L-1 h-1 under conditions of 15 MPa and 4°C, suggesting its adaptation to deep-sea environment. Collectively, our work shed light on the contribution of organotrophs in geochemical cycling, proposing chitin as a long-term carbon and nitrogen storage in cold seeps. -
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REFERENCES
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Chen Y., Yang J., Huang X., et al. (2025). Exploring the role of organotrophic microbes in geochemical cycling of cold seep sediments. The Innovation Geoscience 3:100123. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2024.100123
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Chen Y., Yang J., Huang X., et al. (2025). Exploring the role of organotrophic microbes in geochemical cycling of cold seep sediments. The Innovation Geoscience 3:100123. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2024.100123
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Figure 1.
Phylogeny and niche prevalence of MAGs derived from sediments of Haima cold seep
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Figure 2.
Metabolic potentials of MAGs in C, N, S geochemical cycling
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Figure 3.
Functional profiles of MAGs in organic compound utilization
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Figure 4.
Potential contribution of chitin to carbon and nitrogen cycling in Haima cold seep
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Figure 5.
Genomic context of chitin degrading genes and schematic overview of pathways for chitin degradation
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Figure 6.
Catalytic and structural properties of GH18 chitinase IA32Chi641
