A comparative study revealed first insights into the diversity and metabolisms of the microbial communities in the sediments of Pacmanus and Desmos hydrothermal fields.

Currently, little is known about the microbial diversity in the sediments of Pacmanus and Desmos hydrothermal fields in Manus Basin. In this study, Illumina-based sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons and metagenomic analysis were conducted to investigate the microbial populations and metabolic profiles in the sediments from four different regions in Pacmanus and Desmos hydrothermal fields. It was found that Gammaproteobacteria and Thaumarchaeota were the most abundant bacterial and archaeal populations, respectively. The autotrophic prokaryotes in the four communities probably fixed CO2 via four major pathways, i.e. Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle, reductive acetyl-CoA cycle, rTCA cycle, and 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle. Ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota, nitrifiers, denitrifiers, and sulfur oxidizers belonging to the subgroups of Proteobacteria (e.g., alpha, beta, gamma, and epsilon), Nitrospira, and Nitrospina, and sulfate-reducing Desulfobacterales likely played critical roles in nitrogen and sulfur cycling, in which ammonia, sulfur compounds, and hydrogen could be utilized as potential energy sources. These findings revealed new insights into the operational mechanism of the microbial communities associated with Pacmanus and Desmos hydrothermal fields.