A hydrogen-based subsurface microbial community dominated by methanogens
Abstract
The search for extraterrestrial life may be facilitated if ecosystems can be found on Earth that exist under conditions analogous to those present on other planets or moons. It has been proposed, on the basis of geochemical and thermodynamic considerations, that geologically derived hydrogen might support subsurface microbial communities on Mars and Europa in which methanogens form the base of the ecosystem. Here we describe a unique subsurface microbial community in which hydrogen-consuming, methane-producing Archaea far outnumber the Bacteria. More than 90% of the 16S ribosomal DNA sequences recovered from hydrothermal waters circulating through deeply buried igneous rocks in Idaho are related to hydrogen-using methanogenic microorganisms. Geochemical characterization indicates that geothermal hydrogen, not organic carbon, is the primary energy source for this methanogen-dominated microbial community. These results demonstrate that hydrogen-based methanogenic communities do occur in Earth's subsurface, providing an analogue for possible subsurface microbial ecosystems on other planets.
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Sulfate reducers, acetogens and methanogens appear to be the most common inhabitants of ecosystems situated deep within the crust.
“Sulfate reducers, acetogens and methanogens appear to be the most common inhabitants of ecosystems situated deep within the crust [184–188].”
From Early bioenergetic evolution (2013) · cites this paper as [188]
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- Authors
- Chapelle, F. H., O'Neill, K., Bradley, P. M., Methé, B. A., Ciufo, S. A., Knobel, L. L., & Lovley, D. R.
- Affiliations
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chapelle, Francis H.
- Lovley, Derek R.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2002-01
- Volume
- 415
- Issue
- 6869
- Pages
- 312-315
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2003785769
- Cited by
- 506
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 25.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Geological Survey
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Keywords
- subsurface microbial communities, methanogenic archaea, hydrothermal fluids, archaea, extremophiles, Europa, astrobiology, 16S rRNA, igneous rock
- MeSH terms
- Bacteria, DNA, Bacterial, Hydrogen, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Water Microbiology, Ecosystem, Exobiology, Euryarchaeota, DNA, Archaeal
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