Abundance and Microbial Diversity from Surface to Deep Water Layers Over the Rio Grande Rise, South Atlantic

Marine microbes control the flux of matter and energy essential for life in the oceans. Until now, the distribution and diversity of planktonic microorganisms above Fe-Mn crusts has received relatively little attention. Future mining\dredging of these minerals is predicted to affect microbial diversity and functioning in the deep sea. Here, we studied the ecology of planktonic microbes among pelagic environments of an Fe-Mn deposit region, at Rio Grande Rise, Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. We investigated microbial community composition using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and their abundance estimated by flow cytometry. Our results showed that the majority of picoplanktonic was found in epi- and mesopelagic waters, corresponding to the Tropical Water and South Atlantic Central Water. Bacterial and archaeal groups related to phototrophy, heterotrophy and chemosynthesis, such as Synechococcales, Sar11 (Proteobacteria) and Nitrosopumilales (Thaumarchaeota) were the main representatives of the pelagic microbial community. Additionally, we detected abundant assemblages involved in biodegradation of marine organic matter and iron oxidation at deep waters, i.e., Pseudoalteromonas and Alteromonas. No differences were observed in microbial community alpha diversity. However, we detected differences in community structure between water masses, suggesting that changes in an environmental setting (i.e. nutrient availability or circulation) play a significant role in structuring the pelagic zones, also affecting the meso- and bathypelagic microbiome. HighlightsO_LIRio Grande Rise pelagic microbiome C_LIO_LIPicoplankton carbon biomass partitioning through pelagic zones C_LIO_LIUnique SAR11 Clade I oligotype in the shallowest Tropical Water C_LIO_LIHigher number of shared oligotypes between deepest water masses C_LIO_LINitrogen, carbon and sulfur may be important contributors for the pelagic microbiome C_LI