Microbial Diversity and Biogeochemical Cycling in Red Sea Hydrothermal Vents: A Review of an Iron-Rich, Low-Temperature Hydrothermal System
الموضوعات : Biotechnological Journal of Environmental Microbiology
1 - Department of Microbiology,La.C.,Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran
الکلمات المفتاحية: Hydrothermal vents, Hatiba Mons, Microbial diversity, Metagenomics, Iron cycling, Sulfur metabolism, Nitrogen cycling,
ملخص المقالة :
Hydrothermal vents are globally significant ecosystems that host diverse microbial communities responsible for driving major biogeochemical cycles. While most known vent systems are characterized by high-temperature sulfide-rich emissions, the Red Sea presents a uniquely oligotrophic and iron-dominated hydrothermal environment. Recent discoveries at the Hatiba Mons volcano, the first active hydrothermal vent field identified in the central Red Sea, have revealed extensive iron-oxide mounds, warm vent fluids (~40°C), and abundant microbial mats.This review synthesizes current knowledge on the microbial diversity and metabolic capabilities of Red Sea hydrothermal vents, integrating recent findings from metagenomics, metabarcode analyses, and comparative genomics with global literature on vent microbiology. Microbial communities in this region are dominated by novel and deeply branching taxa from Chloroflexi, Bathyarchaeia, Pseudomonadota, and Thermoproteota, many of which remain unclassified at the genus level. Iron cycling emerges as the central metabolic axis, with widespread distribution of genes involved in Fe(II) oxidation (cyc2, cyc1, foxEYZ) and Fe(III) reduction (mtrABC, DFE_04xx family, flavin-mediated extracellular electron transfer). Unlike sulfur-rich vents, sulfur metabolism appears fragmented and taxonomically dispersed, reflecting the low sulfur availability in Red Sea vent deposits. Nitrogen cycling involves a decentralized network of nitrifiers, denitrifiers, and DNRA-capable microbes, while carbon fixation is predominantly mediated via the Wood Ljungdahl pathway in both bacterial Chloroflexi and archaeal Bathyarchaeia. Comparative analyses show that Red Sea vents differ markedly from Pacific and Atlantic systems in community composition, metabolic architecture, and geochemical constraints. Collectively, the Red Sea hydrothermal vents represent a unique model for studying metal-driven microbial ecosystems, extremophilic adaptation, and biogeochemical cycling in nutrient-poor, iron-rich marine environments.
Alamoudi, R., Barozzi, A., Michoud, G., Van Goethem, M. W., Odobel, C., Chen, Y., Marasco, R., & Daffonchio, D. (2025). Metabolic redundancy and specialisation of novel sulfide-oxidizing Sulfurimonas and Sulfurovum along the brine-seawater interface of the Kebrit Deep. Environmental Microbiome, 20(1), 19.
Allioux, M. (2021). Physiological and multi-omics studies of microbial sulfur metabolisms present in hydrothermal ecosystems Université de Bretagne occidentale-Brest].
Altalhi, S., Schultz, J., Jamil, T., Diercks, I., Sharma, S., Follmann, J., Alam, I., Raman, K., Augustin, N., & Van der Zwan, F. M. (2025). Decoding microbial diversity, biogeochemical functions, and interaction potentials in red sea hydrothermal vents. Environmental Microbiome, 20(1), 118.
Augustin, N. (2023). The Effect of Spreading Rate on the Volcanic Activity and Frequency Distribution of Hydrothermal Vent Sites in the Red Sea Rift, RV METEOR cruise M194 HEXPLORES, Jeddah (SA)–Piraeus (GR), 10.09. 2023–07.11. 2023.
Augustin, N., Van der Zwan, F. M., Devey, C. W., & Brandsdóttir, B. (2021). 13 million years of seafloor spreading throughout the Red Sea Basin. Nature communications, 12(1), 2427.
Bosworth, W. (2015). Geological evolution of the Red Sea: historical background, review, and synthesis. The Red Sea: The formation, morphology, oceanography and environment of a young ocean basin, 45-78.
Bowman, E. E. (2019). North-south variations in structure, topography, and melting regime along the ultra-slow spreading Red Sea Ridge Massachusetts Institute of Technology].
Cremer, M. D. (1994). Geochemistry of Hydrothermal Deposits from the Summit Region of Loihi Seamount, Hawaiʻi. University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Dahl, C. (2020). A biochemical view on the biological sulfur cycle. Environmental technologies to treat sulfur pollution: principles and engineering, 2, 55-96.
Dasgupta, S., Peng, X., & Ta, K. (2021). Interaction between microbes, minerals, and fluids in deep-sea hydrothermal systems. Minerals, 11(12), 1324.
Dede, B., Hansen, C. T., Neuholz, R., Schnetger, B., Kleint, C., Walker, S., Bach, W., Amann, R., & Meyerdierks, A. (2022). Niche differentiation of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SUP05) in submarine hydrothermal plumes. The ISME Journal, 16(6), 1479-1490.
DiBattista, J. D., Roberts, M. B., Bouwmeester, J., Bowen, B. W., Coker, D. J., Lozano‐Cortés, D. F., Howard Choat, J., Gaither, M. R., Hobbs, J. P. A., & Khalil, M. T. (2016). A review of contemporary patterns of endemism for shallow water reef fauna in the Red Sea. Journal of Biogeography, 43(3), 423-439.
Dick, G. J. (2019). The microbiomes of deep-sea hydrothermal vents: distributed globally, shaped locally. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 17(5), 271-283.
Emerson, D., & Moyer, C. L. (2010). Microbiology of seamounts: common patterns observed in community structure. Oceanography, 23(1), 148-163.
Fisher, C. R., Takai, K., & Le Bris, N. (2007). Hydrothermal vent ecosystems. Oceanography, 20(1), 14-23.
Freches, A., & Fradinho, J. C. (2024). The biotechnological potential of the Chloroflexota phylum. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 90(6), e01756-01723.
Keffer, J. L., McAllister, S. M., Garber, A. I., Hallahan, B. J., Sutherland, M. C., Rozovsky, S., & Chan, C. S. (2021). Iron oxidation by a fused cytochrome-porin common to diverse iron-oxidizing bacteria. MBio, 12(4), 10.1128/mbio. 01074-01021.
MARCHAN HERNANDEZ, S. F. (2023). The potential of the Hydrothermal Vents from the Galapagos Ridge for clean and sustainable energy production.
McAllister, S. M., Polson, S. W., Butterfield, D. A., Glazer, B. T., Sylvan, J. B., & Chan, C. S. (2020). Validating the Cyc2 neutrophilic iron oxidation pathway using meta-omics of Zetaproteobacteria iron mats at marine hydrothermal vents. Msystems, 5(1), 10.1128/msystems. 00553-00519.
Van der Zwan, F. M., Augustin, N., Petersen, S., Altalhi, S. M., Schultz, J., Peixoto, R. S., Follmann, J., Anker, A., Benzoni, F., & Garcia Paredes, E. R. (2023). Widespread diffuse venting and large microbial iron-mounds in the Red Sea. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 496.
Veloso, M., Waldisperg, A., Arros, P., Berríos-Pastén, C., Acosta, J., Colque, H., Varas, M., Allende, M., Orellana, L., & Marcoleta, A. (2023). Diversity, taxonomic novelty, and encoded functions of salar de ascotán microbiota, as revealed by metagenome-assembled genomes. Microorganisms. 2023. In.
Zhao, N., Ding, H., Zhou, X., Guillemot, T., Zhang, Z., Zhou, N., & Wang, H. (2025). Dissimilatory iron-reducing microorganisms: The phylogeny, physiology, applications and outlook. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 55(2), 73-98.
