Particulate materials and microbial assemblages around the Izena black smoking vent in the Okinawa trough

The plume of particulate DNA (0.7–1g/l) was extended from a black smoker vent (c.a. 1340 m depth) to the west-southwest directions in the Izena bottom-water region. High concentrations of particulate materials (70–110 g C/l; 300–570 g S/l) were also detected in the bottom-waters. Microscopic observation showed that the bottom-waters were rich in alcian blue-stainable large amorphous particles which contained coccoid and rod-shaped microbial cells mostly smaller than 1m. These microbial matrix compounds appeared to contribute to low P-DNA/P-C ratio (0.011±0.008;n=27) in the vent environment. Sulfur was detected in various kinds of particles in the waters, while the content varied with calcium. Microbial population in the P-DNA plume water was in the order of 10⁵ cells/ml and the most (>99.9%) were non-culturable. The composition of culturable heterotrophs differed between the bottom-waters and surface sediments surrounding the vent; contributions of low temperature (4°C)-culturable bacteria and manganese-oxidizing bacteria to the total heterotrophs were higher in the sediments than in the waters. In contrast, percentages of orange-pigmented heterotrophs and microorganisms capable of growing in thiosulfate- and ammonia-based media to the total heterotrophs were higher in the waters than in the sediments. These results suggest that the culturable bacterial community in the bottom-waters was nutritionally versatile. Izena hydrothermal activities seemed to have a great influence in concentrations and compositions of particulate mateirals and in biomass and compositions of microbial community in the vicinity of this aphotic deep-sea environment.