Piezophilic activity dominates the Puerto Rico Trench deep subseafloor biosphere
- 1Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego
Abstract
Hydrostatic pressure defines the deep ocean, yet its role in structuring microbial activity across the subseafloor biosphere remains poorly understood. Here, we assessed pressure effects on anabolic activity in sediment communities across margin-proximal, bathyal, abyssal, and hadal settings of the Puerto Rico Trench (493-8,385 m water depth). Community-level responses to pressure reversed with burial, revealing an unrecognized shift toward piezophily in communities down to 20 meters below seafloor (mbsf). Atmospheric pressure yielded higher proportions of active cells in surficial sediments, whereas in situ pressure yielded higher proportions in the subseafloor. Pressure also structured active-community composition; in trench-axis sediments down to 8.35 mbsf, JS1/Atribacterota populations within widespread hadal lineages exhibited a physiological response to in situ pressure, indicative of subseafloor piezophily. These findings suggest that hydrostatic pressure acts as an ecological filter after burial, favoring piezophilic traits that may support microbial persistence in the deep subseafloor biosphere.
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BibTeX
@misc{desmarais2026piezophilic,
title = {{Piezophilic activity dominates the Puerto Rico Trench deep subseafloor biosphere}},
author = {M. Desmarais and C. Breusing and A. H. Finch and C. M. J. Baumas and W. D. Orsi and A. M. Plominsky and Y. Morono and L. M. Wehrmann and D. Graham and R. A. Pockalny and A. J. Spivack and D. C. Smith and B. Saucedo and S. R. Soto and J. Sostre-Cortes and A. E. Dekas and J. S. Bowman and S. D'Hondt and D. H. Bartlett},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.30.755482},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.30.755482v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Piezophilic activity dominates the Puerto Rico Trench deep subseafloor biosphere
AU - M. Desmarais
AU - C. Breusing
AU - A. H. Finch
AU - C. M. J. Baumas
AU - W. D. Orsi
AU - A. M. Plominsky
AU - Y. Morono
AU - L. M. Wehrmann
AU - D. Graham
AU - R. A. Pockalny
AU - A. J. Spivack
AU - D. C. Smith
AU - B. Saucedo
AU - S. R. Soto
AU - J. Sostre-Cortes
AU - A. E. Dekas
AU - J. S. Bowman
AU - S. D'Hondt
AU - D. H. Bartlett
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.30.755482
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.30.755482v1
AB - Hydrostatic pressure defines the deep ocean, yet its role in structuring microbial activity across the subseafloor biosphere remains poorly understood. Here, we assessed pressure effects on anabolic activity in sediment communities across margin-proximal, bathyal, abyssal, and hadal settings of the Puerto Rico Trench (493-8,385 m water depth). Community-level responses to pressure reversed with burial, revealing an unrecognized shift toward piezophily in communities down to 20 meters below seafloor (mbsf). Atmospheric pressure yielded higher proportions of active cells in surficial sediments, whereas in situ pressure yielded higher proportions in the subseafloor. Pressure also structured active-community composition; in trench-axis sediments down to 8.35 mbsf, JS1/Atribacterota populations within widespread hadal lineages exhibited a physiological response to in situ pressure, indicative of subseafloor piezophily. These findings suggest that hydrostatic pressure acts as an ecological filter after burial, favoring piezophilic traits that may support microbial persistence in the deep subseafloor biosphere.
ER -