Proteobacteria constitute one of the most diverse and abundant groups of microbes on Earth. In productive marine environments like deep-sea hydrothermal systems, Proteobacteria are implicated in autotrophy coupled to sulfur, methane, and hydrogen oxidation, sulfate reduction, and denitrification. Beyond chemoautotrophy, little is known about the ecological significance of poorly studied Proteobacteria lineages that are globally distributed and active in hydrothermal systems. Here we apply multi-omics to characterize 51 metagenome-assembled genomes from three hydrothermal vent plumes in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans that are affiliated with nine Proteobacteria lineages. Metabolic analyses revealed these organisms to contain a diverse functional repertoire including chemolithotrophic ability to utilize sulfur and C1 compounds, and chemoorganotrophic ability to utilize environment-derived fatty acids, aromatics, carbohydrates, and peptides. Comparative genomics with marine and terrestrial microbiomes suggests that lineage-associated functional traits could explain niche specificity. Our results shed light on the ecological functions and metabolic strategies of novel Proteobacteria in hydrothermal systems and beyond, and highlight the relationship between genome diversification and environmental adaptation.

中文翻译：

---

全球分布的新型海洋变形菌的基因组多样化与环境适应有关。

变形菌是地球上最多样化和最丰富的微生物群之一。在深海热液系统等生产性海洋环境中，变形菌与硫、甲烷和氢氧化、硫酸盐还原和反硝化作用有关的自养有关。除了化学自养之外，人们对在全球分布并活跃于热液系统的变形杆菌谱系的生态意义知之甚少。在这里，我们应用多组学来表征来自太平洋和大西洋的三个热液喷口羽流的 51 个宏基因组组装的基因组，这些热液喷口与九个变形杆菌谱系有关。代谢分析显示这些生物体包含多种功能库，包括利用硫和 C1 化合物的化学营养能力，以及利用环境衍生的脂肪酸、芳烃、碳水化合物和肽的化学有机营养能力。与海洋和陆地微生物组的比较基因组学表明，谱系相关的功能特征可以解释生态位特异性。我们的研究结果阐明了新型变形菌在水热系统及其他系统中的生态功能和代谢策略，并强调了基因组多样化与环境适应之间的关系。