A Slow-Release Substrate Stimulates Groundwater Microbial Communities for Long-Term in Situ Cr(VI) Reduction

Zhang, Ping; Nostrand, Joy D. Van; He, Zhili; Chakraborty, Romy; Deng, Ye; Curtis, Daniel B.; Hazen, Terry C.; Arkin, Adam P.; Zhou, Jizhong

doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b00024

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…The dsrA gene, encoding the alpha subunit of dissimilatory sulfite reductase, an SRB biomarker indicating the ability to reduce sulfate and heavy metals (e.g., uranium) ( 44 – 47 ), and cytochrome genes ( 48 , 49 ) were enriched. Previous studies also indicated that some of these functional genes/populations were stimulated under conditions of high concentrations of heavy metals (e.g., uranium and chromate) in this OR-IFRC site ( 50 – 53 ), the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action site in Rifle, CO ( 54 ), and the chromate-contaminated Hanford site ( 55 ), suggesting the important role of these functions in metal (e.g., uranium and chromate) reduction. As nitrate is an important nutrient and electron acceptor for microorganisms, adequately high concentrations of nitrate in groundwater are expected to stimulate N cycling genes and associated processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning

Zhang

et al. 2018

mBio

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Contamination from anthropogenic activities has significantly impacted Earth’s biosphere. However, knowledge about how environmental contamination affects the biodiversity of groundwater microbiomes and ecosystem functioning remains very limited. Here, we used a comprehensive functional gene array to analyze groundwater microbiomes from 69 wells at the Oak Ridge Field Research Center (Oak Ridge, TN), representing a wide pH range and uranium, nitrate, and other contaminants. We hypothesized that the functional diversity of groundwater microbiomes would decrease as environmental contamination (e.g., uranium or nitrate) increased or at low or high pH, while some specific populations capable of utilizing or resistant to those contaminants would increase, and thus, such key microbial functional genes and/or populations could be used to predict groundwater contamination and ecosystem functioning. Our results indicated that functional richness/diversity decreased as uranium (but not nitrate) increased in groundwater. In addition, about 5.9% of specific key functional populations targeted by a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5) increased significantly (P < 0.05) as uranium or nitrate increased, and their changes could be used to successfully predict uranium and nitrate contamination and ecosystem functioning. This study indicates great potential for using microbial functional genes to predict environmental contamination and ecosystem functioning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning

Zhang

et al. 2018

mBio

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“…Extracted DNA was used for GeoChip analysis as reported previously ( Zhang et al, 2015a ). Briefly, DNA (15 ng) was amplified and fluorescently labeled by whole community genome amplification with a modified ( Wu et al, 2006 ) TempliPhi Kit (GE Healthcare, Piscataway, NJ, United States).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Interactions With Dissolved Organic Matter Drive Carbon Dynamics and Community Succession

et al. 2018

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Knowledge of dynamic interactions between natural organic matter (NOM) and microbial communities is critical not only to delineate the routes of NOM degradation/transformation and carbon (C) fluxes, but also to understand microbial community evolution and succession in ecosystems. Yet, these processes in subsurface environments are usually studied independently, and a comprehensive view has been elusive thus far. In this study, we fed sediment-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) to groundwater microbes and continually analyzed microbial transformation of DOM over a 50-day incubation. To document fine-scale changes in DOM chemistry, we applied high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) and soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (sXAS). We also monitored the trajectory of microbial biomass, community structure and activity over this time period. Together, these analyses provided an unprecedented comprehensive view of interactions between sediment-derived DOM and indigenous subsurface groundwater microbes. Microbial decomposition of labile C in DOM was immediately evident from biomass increase and total organic carbon (TOC) decrease. The change of microbial composition was closely related to DOM turnover: microbial community in early stages of incubation was influenced by relatively labile tannin- and protein-like compounds; while in later stages the community composition evolved to be most correlated with less labile lipid- and lignin-like compounds. These changes in microbial community structure and function, coupled with the contribution of microbial products to DOM pool affected the further transformation of DOM, culminating in stark changes to DOM composition over time. Our study demonstrates a distinct response of microbial communities to biotransformation of DOM, which improves our understanding of coupled interactions between sediment-derived DOM, microbial processes, and community structure in subsurface groundwater.

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“…Waters contaminated with heavy metals can be deficient in electron donors, electron acceptors, and/or carbon sources related to desired microbial activities, and the exact relationship among growth, activity, and substrate utilization is more challenging to understand when the activity of interest is not directly linked to growth. Previous studies have compared different electron donors ranging from organic acids, alcohols, carbohydrates, and polysaccharides to stimulate Cr(VI) reduction with pure cultures, mixed consortia, and in situ (Liamleam and Annachhatre 2007 ; Zhang et al 2015 ). Geets et al ( 2006 ) tested the removal of Zn, Cd, Co, and Ni from contaminated groundwater in column experiments and concluded that additional experiments were needed to better understand the interplay between sulfate-, metal-, and carbon-source concentrations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Injections of electron donors such as polylactate hydrogen-release compound (HRC) into the subsurface have been shown to stimulate Cr(VI)-reducing microorganisms such as Desulfovibrio spp. and other metal-reducing bacteria in situ (Zhang et al 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cr(VI) reduction and physiological toxicity are impacted by resource ratio in Desulfovibrio vulgaris

Franco

Steinbeisser

Zane

et al. 2018

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

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Desulfovibrio spp. are capable of heavy metal reduction and are well-studied systems for understanding metal fate and transport in anaerobic environments. Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough was grown under environmentally relevant conditions (i.e., temperature, nutrient limitation) to elucidate the impacts on Cr(VI) reduction on cellular physiology. Growth at 20 °C was slower than 30 °C and the presence of 50 μM Cr(VI) caused extended lag times for all conditions, but once growth resumed the growth rate was similar to that without Cr(VI). Cr(VI) reduction rates were greatly diminished at 20 °C for both 50 and 100 μM Cr(VI), particularly for the electron acceptor limited (EAL) condition in which Cr(VI) reduction was much slower, the growth lag much longer (200 h), and viability decreased compared to balanced (BAL) and electron donor limited (EDL) conditions. When sulfate levels were increased in the presence of Cr(VI), cellular responses improved via a shorter lag time to growth. Similar results were observed between the different resource (donor/acceptor) ratio conditions when the sulfate levels were normalized (10 mM), and these results indicated that resource ratio (donor/acceptor) impacted D. vulgaris response to Cr(VI) and not merely sulfate limitation. The results suggest that temperature and resource ratios greatly impacted the extent of Cr(VI) toxicity, Cr(VI) reduction, and the subsequent cellular health via Cr(VI) influx and overall metabolic rate. The results also emphasized the need to perform experiments at lower temperatures with nutrient limitation to make accurate predictions of heavy metal reduction rates as well as physiological states in the environment.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00253-017-8724-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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A Slow-Release Substrate Stimulates Groundwater Microbial Communities for Long-Term in Situ Cr(VI) Reduction

Cited by 21 publications

References 59 publications

Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning

Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning

Microbial Interactions With Dissolved Organic Matter Drive Carbon Dynamics and Community Succession

Cr(VI) reduction and physiological toxicity are impacted by resource ratio in Desulfovibrio vulgaris

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