Microbial Diversity Uncovered in Hawaii's Volcanic Fumaroles

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Researchers have generated amplicon and metagenomic sequences from 46 samples of biofilms and associated features around steam vents and fumaroles on the Big Island of Hawaii. The data shows that Chloroflexota and Cyanobacteriota are the dominant microbial phyla in these extreme volcanic habitats, and the team constructed 363 high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes representing both bacterial and archaeal domains.

Why it matters

Hawaii's volcanic landscapes harbor diverse and understudied microbial communities that thrive in extreme geothermal conditions. This dataset provides valuable insights into the ecology and evolution of extremophiles adapted to the unique volcanic features found across the Hawaiian islands.

The details

The researchers focused on sampling steam vent-associated biofilms from various fumaroles and geothermal features around the active Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. From 46 samples, they generated amplicon and metagenomic sequence data, which revealed that Chloroflexota and Cyanobacteriota are the dominant microbial phyla in these communities. They also constructed 363 high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes, with 10 belonging to the archaeal domain and 353 to the bacterial domain.

• The sampling was conducted in 2025 across the volcanic features of the Big Island.

What’s next

The researchers plan to further analyze the metagenome-assembled genomes to uncover the metabolic capabilities and ecological roles of these extremophile microbes in the volcanic habitats of Hawaii.