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Microbial Eukaryotes in Hypersaline Anoxic Deep-Sea Basins

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Polyextremophiles

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 27))

Abstract

The combination of high hydrostatic pressure, absence of light, anoxia, nearly saturated salt concentration and corresponding high density, and a sharp chemocline makes the deep hypersaline anoxic basins in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea some of the most polyextreme habitats on Earth. Once considered anathema to life, deep hypersaline anoxic basins (DHABs) are now known to host diverse microbial life, including eukaryotes. The haloclines and brines of DHABs with different chemistries appear to host distinct populations of microbiota. The most abundant groups of eukaryotes detected by small subunit ribosomal RNA-based molecular analyses and microscopy to date are members of the alveolates, kinetoplastids, and fungi. While the specific adaptations that allow these taxa to survive under such polyextreme condition are still unknown, many ciliates in halocline water samples have been observed to host bacterial and/or archaeal epibiotic partners. Symbiosis may represent one strategy enabling eukaryotic survival in DHAB environments.

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Acknowledgments

This work is part of a collaboration with the Stoeck laboratory at University of Kaiserslautern, Germany; the Kormas laboratory at University of Thessaly, Greece; and the Yakimov laboratory at Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero, CNR, Messina, Italy. We would like to thank the captains and crews of the R/V Oceanus, R/V Atlantis, and R/V Urania for their hard work to assure the success of our sampling objectives. VE would like to acknowledge funding by NSF OCE-0849578.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Virginia P. Edgcomb & William D. Orsi

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  1. Virginia P. Edgcomb
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  2. William D. Orsi
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Correspondence to Virginia P. Edgcomb .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

  2. Dept. of Plant and Env. Sciences, Institute of Life Sciences The Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Aharon Oren

  3. Dept. Mikrobiology, Universität Salzburg FB Molekulare Biologie, Salzburg, Austria

    Helga Stan-Lotter

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Edgcomb, V.P., Orsi, W.D. (2013). Microbial Eukaryotes in Hypersaline Anoxic Deep-Sea Basins. In: Seckbach, J., Oren, A., Stan-Lotter, H. (eds) Polyextremophiles. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6488-0_23

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