Title: Piezophilic, piezosensitive, and piezotolerant bacterial roles in the carbon cycle at increasing hydrostatic pressures
Based on studies that separately quantify the effect of hydrostatic pressure on microbial enzymatic activities, biomass production, and aerobic respiration, high hydrostatic pressure appears to have variable effects on different steps of organic matter remineralization. Much of this work has been conducted on natural assemblages, which offer the advantage of being immediately relatable to processes in natural environments. However, this approach aggregates responses of a highly diverse community, which are comprised of pressure-tolerant (piezotolerant), pressure-sensitive (piezosensitive), and pressure-requiring (piezophilic) species. To overcome this challenge, we are using representative bacterial cultures that are piezotolerant, piezosensitive, or piezophilic to measure the effect of pressure on various steps in organic matter remineralization. This approach will offer phylogenetically-resolved insights into which microbial processes in the carbon cycle are the most and least sensitive to hydrostatic pressure as a function of the organism’s pressure optima.
