Metal sulfide minerals, including mercury sulfides (HgS), are widespread in hydrothermal vent systems where sulfur‐oxidizing microbes are prevalent. Questions remain as to the impact of mineral composition and structure on sulfur‐oxidizing microbial populations at deep‐sea hydrothermal vents, including the possible role of microbial activity in remobilizing elemental Hg from HgS. In the present study, metal sulfides varying in metal composition, structure, and surface area were incubated for 13 days on and near a diffuse‐flow hydrothermal vent at 9°50′N on the East Pacific Rise. Upon retrieval, incubated minerals were examined by scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (SEM‐EDS), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and epifluorescence microscopy (EFM). DNA was extracted from mineral samples, and the 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequenced to characterize colonizing microbes. Sulfur‐oxidizing genera common to newly exposed surfaces (Sulfurimonas, Sulfurovum, and Arcobacter) were present on all samples. Differences in their relative abundance between and within incubation sites point to constraining effects of the immediate environment and the minerals themselves. Greater variability in colonizing community composition on off‐vent samples suggests that the bioavailability of mineral‐derived sulfide (as influenced by surface area, crystal structure, and reactivity) exerted greater control on microbial colonization in the ambient environment than in the vent environment, where dissolved sulfide is more abundant. The availability of mineral‐derived sulfide as an electron donor may thus be a key control on the activity and proliferation of deep‐sea chemosynthetic communities, and this interpretation supports the potential for microbial dissolution of HgS at hydrothermal vents.

中文翻译：

---

在东太平洋上升沿9°50'N的扩散流深海热液喷口处，金属硫化物矿物的微生物定殖。

金属硫化物矿物，包括硫化汞（HgS），广泛存在于硫氧化微生物普遍存在的热液喷口系统中。矿物组成和结构对深海热液喷口硫氧化微生物种群的影响仍然存在疑问，包括微生物活性在从HgS迁移元素汞中的可能作用。在本研究中，将金属成分，结构和表面积不同的金属硫化物在东太平洋上升沿9°50′N的扩散流热液喷口及其附近温育13天。取回后，通过扫描电子显微镜，能量色散X射线光谱法（SEM-EDS），X射线衍射（XRD）和落射荧光显微镜（EFM）对培养的矿物质进行了检查。从矿物样品中提取DNA，对16S核糖体RNA基因进行测序以鉴定定殖微生物。新暴露表面常见的硫氧化属（硫酸单胞菌，硫杆菌和弧菌）出现在所有样品上。孵化点之间和孵化点之间相对丰度的差异表明了周围环境和矿物质本身的约束作用。尾气样本中定居群落组成的较大变异性表明，矿物质衍生的硫化物的生物利用度（受表面积，晶体结构和反应性的影响）对环境中微生物定植的控制要比在通风环境中更好。溶解的硫化物更为丰富。因此，矿物来源的硫化物作为电子供体的可用性可能是对深海化学合成群落活动和增殖的关键控制，这种解释支持了HgS在热液喷口中微生物溶解的潜力。