Abstract
Sparse microbial populations persist from seafloor to basement in the slowly accumulating oxic sediment of the oligotrophic South Pacific Gyre (SPG). The physiological status of these ...communities, including their substrate metabolism, is previously unconstrained. Here we show that diverse aerobic members of communities in SPG sediments (4.3‒101.5 Ma) are capable of readily incorporating carbon and nitrogen substrates and dividing. Most of the 6986 individual cells analyzed with nanometer-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) actively incorporated isotope-labeled substrates. Many cells responded rapidly to incubation conditions, increasing total numbers by 4 orders of magnitude and taking up labeled carbon and nitrogen within 68 days after incubation. The response was generally faster (on average, 3.09 times) for nitrogen incorporation than for carbon incorporation. In contrast, anaerobic microbes were only minimally revived from this oxic sediment. Our results suggest that microbial communities widely distributed in organic-poor abyssal sediment consist mainly of aerobes that retain their metabolic potential under extremely low-energy conditions for up to 101.5 Ma.
The origin of eukaryotes remains unclear
. Current data suggest that eukaryotes may have emerged from an archaeal lineage known as 'Asgard' archaea
. Despite the eukaryote-like genomic features that ...are found in these archaea, the evolutionary transition from archaea to eukaryotes remains unclear, owing to the lack of cultured representatives and corresponding physiological insights. Here we report the decade-long isolation of an Asgard archaeon related to Lokiarchaeota from deep marine sediment. The archaeon-'Candidatus Prometheoarchaeum syntrophicum' strain MK-D1-is an anaerobic, extremely slow-growing, small coccus (around 550 nm in diameter) that degrades amino acids through syntrophy. Although eukaryote-like intracellular complexes have been proposed for Asgard archaea
, the isolate has no visible organelle-like structure. Instead, Ca. P. syntrophicum is morphologically complex and has unique protrusions that are long and often branching. On the basis of the available data obtained from cultivation and genomics, and reasoned interpretations of the existing literature, we propose a hypothetical model for eukaryogenesis, termed the entangle-engulf-endogenize (also known as E
) model.
Remarkable numbers of microbial cells have been observed in global shallow to deep subseafloor sediments. Accumulating evidence indicates that deep and ancient sediments harbor living microbial life, ...where the flux of nutrients and energy are extremely low. However, their physiology and energy requirements remain largely unknown. We used stable isotope tracer incubation and nanometer-scale secondary ion MS to investigate the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen assimilation activities in individual microbial cells from 219-m-deep lower Pleistocene (460,000 y old) sediments from the northwestern Pacific off the Shimokita Peninsula of Japan. Sediment samples were incubated in vitro with 13C- and/or 15N-labeled glucose, pyruvate, acetate, bicarbonate, methane, ammonium, and amino acids. Significant incorporation of 13C and/or 15N and growth occurred in response to glucose, pyruvate, and amino acids (∼76% of total cells), whereas acetate and bicarbonate were incorporated without fostering growth. Among those substrates, a maximum substrate assimilation rate was observed at 67 x 10–18 mol/cell per d with bicarbonate. Neither carbon assimilation nor growth was evident in response to methane. The atomic ratios between nitrogen incorporated from ammonium and the total cellular nitrogen consistently exceeded the ratios of carbon, suggesting that subseafloor microbes preferentially require nitrogen assimilation for the recovery in vitro. Our results showed that the most deeply buried subseafloor sedimentary microbes maintain potentials for metabolic activities and that growth is generally limited by energy but not by the availability of C and N compounds.
Fully characterising the exchange of volatile elements between the Earth's interior and surface layers has been a longstanding challenge. Volatiles scavenged from seawater by hydrothermally altered ...oceanic crust have been transferred to the upper mantle during subduction of the oceanic crust, but whether these volatiles are carried deeper into the lower mantle is poorly understood. Here we present evidence of the deep-mantle Cl cycle recorded in melt inclusions in olivine crystals in ocean island basalts sourced from the lower mantle. We show that Cl-rich melt inclusions are associated with radiogenic Pb isotopes, indicating ancient subducted oceanic crust in basalt sources, together with lithophile elements characteristic of melts from a carbonated source. These signatures collectively indicate that seawater-altered and carbonated oceanic crust conveyed surface Cl downward to the lower mantle, forming a Cl-rich reservoir that accounts for 13-26% or an even greater proportion of the total Cl in the mantle.
The Zag meteorite which is a thermally-metamorphosed H ordinary chondrite contains a primitive xenolithic clast that was accreted to the parent asteroid after metamorphism. The cm-sized clast ...contains abundant large organic grains or aggregates up to 20 μm in phyllosilicate-rich matrix. Here we report organic and isotope analyses of a large (~10 μm) OM aggregate in the Zag clast. The X-ray micro-spectroscopic technique revealed that the OM aggregate has sp2 dominated hydrocarbon networks with a lower abundance of heteroatoms than in IOM from primitive (CI,CM,CR) carbonaceous chondrites, and thus it is distinguished from most of the OM in carbonaceous meteorites. The OM aggregate has high D/H and (sup 15)N/(sup 14)N ratios (δD = 2,370 ± 74‰ and δ(sup 15)N = 696 ± 100‰), suggesting that it originated in a very cold environment such as the interstellar medium or outer region of the solar nebula, while the OM is embedded in carbonate-bearing matrix resulting from aqueous activities. Thus, the high D/H ratio must have been preserved during the extensive late-stage aqueous processing. It indicates that both the OM precursors and the water had high D/H ratios. Combined with (sup 16)O-poor nature of the clast, the OM aggregate and the clast are unique among known chondrite groups. We further propose that the clast possibly originated from D/P type asteroids or trans-Neptunian Objects.
We have established analytical procedures for quantitative rare earth element (REE) measurements by NanoSIMS 50L ion microprobe with 2–10 μm spatial resolution. Measurements are performed by ...multidetection using energy filtering under several static magnetic field settings. Relative sensitivity factors and REE oxide/REE element secondary ion ratios that we determined for the NanoSIMS match values previously determined for other ion microprobes. REE measurements of 100 ppm REE glass standards yielded reproducibility and accuracy of 0.5–2.5% and 5–15%, respectively. REE measurements of minerals of an Allende type‐A CAI, 7R19‐1, were performed using three different methods: spot analysis, line profile, and imaging. These data are in excellent agreement with previous REE measurements of this inclusion by IMS‐3f ion microprobe. The higher spatial resolution NanoSIMS measurements provide additional insight into the formation process of this CAI and offer a promising new tool for analysis of fine‐grained and complexly zoned materials.
We developed universal sample holders the Kochi grid, Kochi clamp, and Okazaki cell) and a transfer vessel (facility-to-facility transfer container (FFTC) to analyze sensitive and fragile samples, ...such as extremely small extraterrestrial materials. The holders and container prevent degradation, contamination due to the terrestrial atmosphere (water vapor and oxygen gas) and small particles, as well as mechanical sample damage. The FFTC can isolate the samples from the effects of the atmosphere for more than a week. The Kochi grid and clamp were made for a coordinated micro/nano-analysis that utilizes a focused-ion beam apparatus, transmission electron microscope, and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry. The Okazaki cell was developed as an additional attachment for a scanning transmission X-ray microscope that uses near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). These new apparatuses help to minimize possible alterations from the exposure of the samples to air. The coordinated analysis involving these holders was successfully carried out without any sample damage or loss, thereby enabling us to obtain sufficient analytical datasets of textures, crystallography, elemental/isotopic abundances, and molecular functional groups for µm-sized minerals and organics in both the Antarctic micrometeorite and a carbonaceous chondrite. We will apply the coordinated analysis to acquire the complex characteristics in samples obtained by the future spacecraft sample return mission.
Carbonaceous meteorites contain diverse soluble organic compounds. These compounds formed in the early solar system from volatiles accreted on tiny dust particles. However, the difference in the ...organic synthesis on respective dust particles in the early solar system remains unclear. We found micrometer-scale heterogeneous distributions of diverse CHN
and CHN
O compounds in two primitive meteorites: the Murchison and NWA 801, using a surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization system connected to a high mass resolution mass spectrometer. These compounds contained mutual relationships of ± H
, ± CH
, ± H
O, and ± CH
O and showed highly similar distributions, indicating that they are the products of series reactions. The heterogeneity was caused by the micro-scale difference in the abundance of these compounds and the extent of the series reactions, indicating that these compounds formed on respective dust particles before asteroid accretion. The results of the present study provide evidence of heterogeneous volatile compositions and the extent of organic reactions among the dust particles that formed carbonaceous asteroids. The compositions of diverse small organic compounds associated with respective dust particles in meteorites are useful to understand different histories of volatile evolution in the early solar system.
Cosmic symplectites (COSes), consisting mainly of nanoscaled symplectic intergrowths of magnetite and Fe-Ni sulfides, have extremely heavy oxygen isotopic compositions and are considered tracers of ...16O-poor primordial ice in the early solar system. We examined the three-dimensional microstructure and mineralogy of one COS particle, COS#1, in the Acfer 094 carbonaceous chondrite and investigated its origin. Synchrotron-radiation based X-ray computed nanotomography revealed a presence of micro-inclusions inside COS#1. The largest inclusion consists mainly of high-temperature phases of anhydrous sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) and elemental sulfur, which seem to have been formed from a Na2SO4-S eutectic melt. COS#1 showed a trilayered structure surrounding the large inclusion: the innermost coarse-grained layer consisting mainly of 100–200 nm-sized magnetite and Fe-sulfide, the symplectite layer consisting mainly of nanoscaled symplectic intergrowths of magnetite and Fe-Ni sulfides, and the outermost Fe-oxide layer. The symplectite layer comprises the major volume of COS#1 and shows the pseudomorphic structure of precursor Fe-Ni metal grains. The coarse-grained layer seems to have been formed via metal–salt interaction (hot corrosion) at high temperatures, where the precursor Fe-Ni metals contacted with the Na2SO4-S melt. The symplectite formed simultaneously with the coarse-grained layer due to high-speed diffusion of sulfur and oxygen inside the metal grains. The high-temperature metal–salt interactions should have occurred before the incorporation of COS#1 into the meteorite parent body. The precursor of COS#1 should have consisted of Fe-Ni metals and O-Na-S-rich material. The two reductive and oxidative components seem to have formed separately and got together by some mechanical mixing processes in nebula. The COS#1 precursor was heated in a short period and the O-Na-S-rich material melted. The melt induced the hot corrosion of the Fe-Ni metals and was subsequently cooled and solidified. Subsequently, it was incorporated into the meteorite parent body as COS#1. In the parent body, aqueous alteration occurred and formed the outermost Fe-oxide layer on the COS#1 surface.
On April 23, 2019, a meteorite fall occurred in Aguas Zarcas, Costa Rica. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin, Aguas Zarcas is a brecciated CM2 chondrite dominated by two lithologies. Our X‐ray ...computed tomography (XCT) results show many different lithologies. In this paper, we describe the petrographic and mineralogical investigation of five different lithologies of the Aguas Zarcas meteorite. The bulk oxygen isotope compositions of some lithologies were also measured. The Aguas Zarcas meteorite is a breccia at all scales. From two small fragments, we have noted five main lithologies, including (1) Met‐1: a metal‐rich lithology; (2) Met‐2: a second metal‐rich lithology which is distinct from Met‐1; (3) a brecciated CM lithology with clasts of different petrologic subtypes; (4) a C1/2 lithology; and (5) a C1 lithology. The Met‐1 lithology is a new and unique carbonaceous chondrite which bears similarities to CR and CM chondrite groups, but is distinct from both based on oxygen isotope data. Met‐2 also represents a new type of carbonaceous chondrite, but it is more similar to the CM chondrite group, albeit with a very high abundance of metal. We have noted some similarities between the Met‐1 and Met‐2 lithologies and will explore possible genetic relationships. We have also identified a brecciated CM lithology with two primary components: a chondrule‐poor lithology and a chondrule‐rich lithology showing different petrologic subtypes. The other two lithologies, C1 and C1/2, are very altered and possibly related to the CM chondrite group. In this article, we describe all the lithologies in detail and attempt a classification of each in order to understand the origin and the history of formation of the Aguas Zarcas parent body.
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