Characterizing and quantifying the impact of phagotrophic protists at hot spots of primary production at Axial Seamount

Grazing by microbial eukaryotes is a significant source of mortality for microbes in the oceans, thus influencing the composition of communities and serving as a major route for remineralization of organic material to all organisms. This project is quantifying the in situ rates of eukaryotic grazing on prokaryotic communities at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, hot spots of primary productivity in the deep sea, as well as characterizing the diversity of microbial eukaryotes, their abundance, and metabolic activities at the seafloor. The focus of the effort is at the underwater volcano Axial Seamount, home of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Regional Cabled Array with well-characterized low-temperature diffusely venting fluids.