[Objective] Hydrothermal plumes exchange matter and energy with background seawater during the processes of buoyant rising and non-buoyant lateral migration. Due to the dynamic variability of both hydrothermal activity and ocean currents, the pattern, physico-chemical parameters, and microbial communities of hydrothermal plumes experience spatio-temporal variations. However, due to the lack of long-term monitoring and time-series sampling of hydrothermal plumes, the diversity and spatio-temporal variations of microbial communities, especially archaea, remain unclear. [Methods] From July 2018 to June 2019, a mooring system with two sediment traps (one for collection of hydrothermal plume samples 300 m above seafloor and the other for collection of near-bottom water 40 m above seafloor) and a turbidity sensor (150 m above seafloor) was deployed at 300 m southeast of the active Wocan-1 hydrothermal field for 18 months. We employed 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing to study the diversity and spatio-temporal variations of archaeal communities in the samples on the monthly scale. [Results] The abundance of hydrothermal plume-associated archaea includingThermoplasmata,Methanosarcinia, andMethanobacteria increased when turbidity anomalies were higher. Spatially, the archaeal community structures in the hydrothermal plume and near-bottom water were similar at the phylum and class levels but showed differences at the order level. The relative abundance ofThermoplasmata was generally higher in the plume, whereas ammonia-oxidizing archaea andMethanosarcinia were more abundant in the near-bottom water. [Conclusion] Both the hydrothermal plume and the near-bottom water from 300 m southeast of the Wocan-1 hydrothermal field were affected by hydrothermal fluids, with the plume layer being more significantly affected. The near-bottom layer was affected by re-suspended sediments in addition to hydrothermal fluids. Dynamic changes of hydrothermal contributions and re-suspension of sediments were probably the main factors responsible for the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of archaeal communities. This study gives insights into the structure and spatio-temporal evolution of the archaeal community in the hydrothermal-influenced zone on a monthly scale.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |