Microbial metabolism in deep terrestrial subsurface communities - amino acids as biosignatures
Highlights • Salinity and nutrient availability affect the utilization and secretion of amino acids by deep biosphere microbial consortia • Anoxic deep biosphere enrichment cultures were compared to Desulfovibrio desulfuricans • Amino acids and organic acids were degraded under different nutrient conditions • Phe and Val degradation remained unaffected by changes in nutrient availability • Metabolic pathways involving Phe, Cys and Met were most prominent