Diversity of Thermophilic Microorganisms within Hawaiian Fumaroles

Fumaroles provide heat and moisture characteristic of an environment suitable for thermophilic microorganisms. On the Island of Hawaii, fumaroles are scattered across the southeastern portion of the island as a result of the volcanic activity from Kilauea Crater and Pu'u' O'o vent. We used metagenomics to detect 16S rDNA from archaeal and bacterial thermophilic microorganisms indicating their presence in Hawaiian fumaroles. The fumaroles sampled exist along elevation and precipitation gradients; varying from sea level to 4,012ft and annual rainfall from less than 20in to greater than 80in. To determine the effects of environmental gradients (including temperature, pH, elevation, and precipitation) on microbial diversity within and among fumaroles, we obtained 22 samples from 7 fumaroles over a three-day period in February of 2007. Temperature variations within individual fumaroles vary from 2.3oC to 35oC and the pH variances that range from 0.4 to 2.0. Temperatures of the different fumaroles range from 29.9oC to greater than 105oC, with pH values that vary from 2.55 to 6.93. Further data on the microbial diversity within fumaroles and among fumaroles will be determined once the sequencing of the microbial 16S rDNA regions is completed. We are currently assembling and sequencing clone libraries of bacterial and archaeal 16S rDNA fragments from fumaroles.