Landscape of the metaplasmidome of deep-sea hydrothermal vents located at Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridges in the Norwegian–Greenland Sea: ecological insights from comparative analysis of plasmid identification tools

Abstract

Plasmids are one of the key drivers of microbial adaptation and evolution. However, their diversity and role in adaptation, especially in extreme environments, remains largely unexplored. In this study, we aimed to identify, characterize and compare plasmid sequences originating from samples collected from deep-sea hydrothermal vents located in Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridges. To achieve this, we employed, and benchmarked three recently developed plasmid identification tools - PlasX, GeNomad and PLASMe – on metagenomic data from this unique ecosystem. To date, this is the first direct comparison of these computational methods in the context of data from extreme environments. Upon recovery of plasmid contigs, we performed a multi-approach analysis, focusing on identifying taxonomic and functional biases within datasets originating from each tool. Next, we implemented a majority voting system to identify high-confidence plasmid contigs, enhancing the reliability of our findings. By analyzing the consensus plasmid sequences, we gained insights into their diversity, ecological roles, and adaptive significance. Within the high-confidence sequences, we identified a high abundance of Pseudomonadota and Campylobacterota, as well as multiple toxin-antitoxin systems. Our findings ensure a deeper understanding of how plasmids contribute to shaping microbial communities living under extreme conditions of hydrothermal vents, potentially uncovering novel adaptive mechanisms.