Potential for biogeochemical cycling of sulfur,iron and carbon within massive sulfide deposits below the seafloor

Seafloor massive sulfides are a potential energy source for the support of chemosynthetic ecosystems in dark, deep‐sea environments; however, little is known about microbial communities in these ecosystems, especially below the seafloor. In the present study, we performed culture‐independent molecular analyses of sub‐seafloor sulfide samples collected in the Southern Mariana Trough by drilling. The depth for the samples ranged from 0.52 m to 2.67 m below the seafloor. A combination of 16S rRNA and functional gene analyses suggested the presence of chemoautotrophs, sulfur‐oxidizers, sulfate‐reducers, iron‐oxidizers and iron‐reducers. In addition, mineralogical and thermodynamic analyses are consistent with chemosynthetic microbial communities sustained by sulfide minerals below the seafloor. Although distinct bacterial community compositions were found among the sub‐seafloor sulfide samples and hydrothermally inactive sulfide chimneys on the seafloor collected from various areas, we also found common bacterial members at species level including the sulfur‐oxidizers and sulfate‐reducers, suggesting that the common members are widely distributed within massive sulfide deposits on and below the seafloor and play a key role in the ecosystem function.