Sulfur-cycling chemolithoautotrophic microbial community dominates a cold, anoxic, hypersaline Arctic spring

Background Gypsum Hill Spring, located in Nunavut in the Canadian High Arctic, is a rare example of a cold saline spring arising through thick permafrost. It perennially discharges cold (similar to 7 degrees C), hypersaline (7-8% salinity), anoxic (similar to 0.04 ppm O-2), and highly reducing (similar to - 430 mV) brines rich in sulfate (2.2 g.L-1) and sulfide (9.5 ppm), making Gypsum Hill an analog to putative sulfate-rich briny habitats on extraterrestrial bodies such as Mars. Results Genome-resolved metagenomics and metatranscriptomics were utilized to describe an active microbial community containing novel metagenome-assembled genomes and dominated by sulfur-cycling Desulfobacterota and Gammaproteobacteria. Sulfate reduction was dominated by hydrogen-oxidizing chemolithoautotrophic Desulfovibrionaceae sp. and was identified in phyla not typically associated with sulfate reduction in novel lineages of Spirochaetota and Bacteroidota. Highly abundant and active sulfur-reducing Desulfuromusa sp. highly transcribed non-coding RNAs associated with transcriptional regulation, showing potential evidence of putative metabolic flexibility in response to substrate availability. Despite low oxygen availability, sulfide oxidation was primarily attributed to aerobic chemolithoautotrophic Halothiobacillaceae. Low abundance and transcription of photoautotrophs indicated sulfur-based chemolithoautotrophy drives primary productivity even during periods of constant illumination. Conclusions We identified a rare surficial chemolithoautotrophic, sulfur-cycling microbial community active in a unique anoxic, cold, hypersaline Arctic spring. We detected Mars-relevant metabolisms including hydrogenotrophic sulfate reduction, sulfur reduction, and sulfide oxidation, which indicate the potential for microbial life in analogous S-rich brines on past and present Mars.

Automated summary

We studied an active microbial community in a unique anoxic, cold, and hypersaline Arctic spring using genome-resolved metagenomics and metatranscriptomics. The microbial community is dominated by sulfur-cycling bacteria and is capable of metabolisms relevant to Mars-like environments, such as hydrogenotrophic sulfate reduction, sulfur reduction, and sulfide oxidation. This suggests the potential for microbial life in Mars-like brines on past and present Mars.