Prokaryote diversity and viral production in deep-sea sediments and seamounts

Despite the fact that marine prokaryotes and viruses have been increasingly investigated over the last decade, knowledge on prokaryote diversity and viral production in bathyal sediments is limited. We investigated microbial variables in the deep-sea sediments around two seamounts at 3000-m depth in the Tyrrhenian Sea and sediments located at the same depth, but not affected by the presence of the seamounts. We hypothesized that seamounts altered significantly prokaryotes–viruses interactions in surrounding deep-sea sediments. Sediments surrounding seamounts were characterised by prokaryotic abundances significantly higher than those observed in non-seamount sediments. Benthic viral production was about double in sediments close to seamounts than in non-seamount sediments, where virus turnover was up to 3 times lower. Total Bacteria, as assessed by CARD-FISH, dominated prokaryotic community structure, whereas Archaea accounted on average for approximately 10%. The fraction of Crenarchaeota was always higher than Euryarchaeota. Bacterial diversity, estimated using ARISA, was high, with up to 127 different microbial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in a single sample. Archaeal richness (determined using T-RFLP of the 16S rRNA gene) ranged from 12 to 20 OTUs, while Archaeal evenness was comprised between 0.529±0.018 and 0.623±0.08. Results represent a pointer for future investigations dealing with the interactions between viruses and prokaryotes in deep-sea sediments.