Piezophilic activity dominates the Puerto Rico Trench deep subseafloor biosphere

Abstract

Hydrostatic pressure is a defining feature of the deep ocean, yet how it structures microbial activity across the subseafloor biosphere is poorly understood. Here, we assess pressure effects on anabolic activity in seafloor and subseafloor communities across a margin-to-hadal-to-abyssal transect of the Puerto Rico Trench region (493-8,385 m water depth). Community-level responses to pressure reverse with burial, revealing a previously unrecognized shift toward piezophily in resident subseafloor communities down to 20 meters below seafloor (mbsf). In pressure-incubation experiments, 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 extending to 8.35 mbsf, JS1/Atribacterota populations belonging to geographically 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.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 03 Oct 2026.

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