A Radically Adaptive Community

   Hydrothermal vent communities have been a scientific point of interest since their discovery, by and large due to their ability to thrive in such dynamic conditions. The environmental gradients and niches provided by hydrothermal vents give rise to a plethora of unique populations, making deep-sea hydrothermal fields a hugely diverse ecosystem.

   Yang et al. (2019) investigate the microbial communities that adapt to a range of changes that occur daily at the Southwest Indian Ridge. By extracting sediment cores from an inactive vent field, 16SrRNA high-throughput sequencing was used to examine the microbial composition of the area. Microbial communities were similar at the surface layer but began to distinguish unique functions at an increased depth. This reinforces the idea that hydrothermal vents expel reduced materials which are universally useful to members of microbial communities, but upon moving further from the surface, specialization is required.

   This study serves as a pioneer into the activity of the Southwest Indian Ridge. Whilst differences were observed in microbial communities, it is important to remember that over 80% of all detected OTUs were shared among different temperatures and sediment depths, suggesting that something connects distant hydrothermal habitats which could be the basis of future scientific study.

Yang, Z., Xiao, X., & Zhang, Y. (2019). Microbial diversity of sediments from an inactive hydrothermal vent field, Southwest Indian Ridge. Marine Life Science & Technology, 1-14.