Biomass and community structure of the abyssal microbiota determined from the ester-linked phospholipids recovered from Venezuela Basin and Puerto Rico Trench sediments

Abstract

Extractible phospholipid fatty acids of abyssal sediment cores from three stations in the Venezuela Basin, transects between them, and a station in the Puerto Rico Trench were analyzed to determine microbial biomass and community composition. Results were compared to abyssal sediments from an area of high-energy boundary currents in the North Atlantic, and estuarine sediments from Apalachee Bay, Florida. Venezuela Basin and Puerto Rico Trench sediments were characterize by low microbial biomass, measured as phospholipid palmitic acid. Venezuela Basin sediments of three different sedimentary regimes showed a remarkably similar microbial community structure, as characterized by fatty acid profiles. Prokaryotic organisms dominated the microbial community, and fatty acids believed to be signatures of anaerobic organisms were present in greater proportions in Venezuela Basin and Puerto Rico Trench sediments than in either the North Atlantic abyssal sediments or shallow-water estuarine sediments.