Grain size and depth constraints on microbial variability in coastal plain subsurface sediments

Zhang, Chuanlun; Palumbo, Anthony V.; Phelps, Tommy J.; Beauchamp, John J.; Brockman, Fred J.; Murray, Chris; Parsons, Brian; Swift, Donald J. P.

doi:10.1080/01490459809378074

Cited by 35 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…direct steric hindrance can also affect microorganisms in small pores and restrict their function (Fredrickson et al, 1997;Zhang et al, 1998). Ultimately, decreasing pore throat size may lead to physical size exclusion of bacteria.…”

Section: Metabolic Process Reactionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Lithological controls on biological activity and groundwater chemistry in Quaternary sediments

Bartlett

Bottrell

Sinclair³

et al. 2009

Hydrological Processes

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Abstract:Depth profiles of solute chemistry and sulfate isotopic compositions are presented for groundwater and pore water in a sequence of Quaternary glacial outwash sediments. Sand units show evidence for hydraulic connection to the surface and thus modern sources of solutes. Finer-grained sediments show a general pattern of increasing solute concentrations with depth, with sulfate derived from ancient rainwater and pyrite oxidation in the soil/drift. In these sediments sulfate has undergone bacterial sulfate reduction (BSR) to produce biogenic sulfide. In clay sediments, with d 10 Ä 1Ð6 µm, high concentrations of sulfate and acetate now co-exist, implying that BSR is inhibited. The correlation with smaller sediment grain size indicates that this is due to pore size exclusion of the sulfate reducing bacteria. Mechanical restriction of microbial function thus provides a fundamental limitation on microbial respiration in buried clay-rich sediments, which acts as a control on the chemical evolution of their pore waters.

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Section: Metabolic Process Reactionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Lithological controls on biological activity and groundwater chemistry in Quaternary sediments

Bartlett

Bottrell

Sinclair³

et al. 2009

Hydrological Processes

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“…A detailed study on the abundance and activity of aerobic bacteria in pristine aquifers was carried out in two coastal plain sites, Oyster and Abbott Pitt, in Virginia, USA (Zhang et al 1998). In drilling cores of up to 6.5 m length, grain size distribution (GSD), TOC, and microbial abundance and activity were measured in depth intervals between 5 cm and 1 m. Activity was measured by means of acetate incorporation (at Oyster) and glucose mineralisation (at Abbott Pitt).…”

Section: Bacterial Abundance and Activity In Aquifersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Homogenisation of solid phase samples prior to analyses makes it possible to characterise the average composition of the microbial communities, while detailed information on their heterogeneous distribution is lost. Zhang et al (1998) assessed the number and activity of bacteria in a sandy aquifer in samples ranging from 0.1 to 100 g. They found little influence of the sampling volume on the microbial communities, which was explained by the nearly homogeneous GSD, ranging from 0.12 to 0.25 mm.…”

Section: Sampling Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Microbial biocenoses in pristine aquifers and an assessment of investigative methods

2006

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The current knowledge of microbial biocenoses (communities) in pristine aquifers is presented in a review, which also discusses their relevance for questions of groundwater protection. Aquifers are heterogeneous on all scales and structured in a variety of habitats. The void spaces in many aquifers are small. The biocenoses are thus predominantly composed of microorganisms and, often, microinvertebrates. Larger voids and macroorganisms occur in karst cavities. Due to the absence of light, the biocenoses depend on chemical energy resources, which are, however, scarce in non-contaminated groundwater. The microorganisms thus show small cell sizes, low population densities and reduced activity; they developed specific strategies to survive oligotrophic conditions. The review also discusses the impact of contamination on the biocenoses, and the potential use of the biocenoses or specific organisms as indicators for groundwater quality, and the limits of this approach. Bacteria are either planktonic or attached to aquifer material, which requires both fluid and solid phase sampling. Most groundwater bacteria are viable but non-culturable. Consequently, cultivation techniques give an incomplete picture of the biocenoses, while methods from molecular microbiology provide genetic fingerprints of the entire community. Different analytical methods are available to count microorganisms, identify species, characterise microbial diversity, and measure activity.Résumé Cette revue expose l'état actuel des connaissances concernant les biocénoses microbiennes présentes dans les aquifères oligotrophes. L'impact d'une contamination sur les biocénoses est discuté, ainsi que le potentiel que Les bactéries sont planctoniques ou attachées aux matériaux de l'aquifère, ce qui demande unéchantillonnagè a la fois de l'eau et du substrat. De nombreuses méthodes sont aujourd'hui disponibles pour le comptage, l'identification et la caractérisation de la diversité, ainsi que la mesure des activités des organismes des aquifères. Comme la grande majorité des bactéries est viable mais non cultivable, les techniques de cultures actuelles ne donnent qu'une image incomplète des communautés, alors que les méthodes moléculaires développées récemment offrent la possibilité d'obtenir un profil de la communauté plus complet.Resumen Se presentauna reseña crítica del conocimiento actual de biocenosis microbiana (comunidades) en acuíferos prístinos la cual también discute su relevancia en términos de protección de aguas subterráneas. Los acuíferos son heterogéneos en todas las escalas y estructurados en una variedad de habitats. Los espacios vacíos en muchos acuíferos son pequeños. La biocenosis está por lo tanto compuesta predominantemente por microorganismos y, frecuentemente, microinvertebrados. Espacios más grandes y macroorganismos ocurren en cavidades kársticas. Debido a la ausencia de luz la biocenosis depende de recursos energéticos químicos los cuales, sin embargo, son escasos en agua subterránea no contaminada. Los microorganismos muestran...

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“…However, subsurface microbial communities are often difficult to investigate because subsurface environments are characterized by very high levels of spatial and temporal variability in subsurface hydrological and biogeochemical processes. Considerable spatial variability of microbial distribution in subsurface environments was also observed using traditional microbiological methods (19,43,48).…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Microbial Diversity and Heterogeneity in Sandy Subsurface Soils

Zhou

Xia

Huang

et al. 2004

Appl Environ Microbiol

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143

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Microbial community diversity and heterogeneity in saturated and unsaturated subsurface soils from Abbott's Pit in Virginia (1.57, 3.25, and 4.05 m below surface) and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware (6.00 and 7.50 m below surface) were analyzed using a culture-independent small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene (rDNA)-based cloning approach. Four to six dominant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified in 33 to 100 unique SSU rDNA clones (constituting about 40 to 50% of the total number of SSU rDNA clones in the clone library) from the saturated subsurface samples, whereas no dominant OTUs were observed in the unsaturated subsurface sample. Less than 10% of the clones among samples from different depths at the same location were identical, and the proportion of overlapping OTUs was lower for the samples that were vertically far apart than for adjacent samples. In addition, no OTUs were shared between the Abbott's Pit and Dover samples. The majority of the clones (80%) had sequences that were less than 5% different from those in the current databases. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that most of the bacterial clones were affiliated with members of the Proteobacteria family (90%), gram-positive bacteria (3%), and members of the Acidobacteria family (3%). Principal component analysis revealed that samples from different geographic locations were well separated and that samples from the same location were closely grouped together. In addition, the nonsaturated subsurface samples from Abbott's Pit clustered together and were well separated from the saturated subsurface soil sample. Finally, the overall diversity of the subsurface samples was much lower than that of the corresponding surface soil samples.

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Grain size and depth constraints on microbial variability in coastal plain subsurface sediments

Cited by 35 publications

References 35 publications

Lithological controls on biological activity and groundwater chemistry in Quaternary sediments

Lithological controls on biological activity and groundwater chemistry in Quaternary sediments

Review: Microbial biocenoses in pristine aquifers and an assessment of investigative methods

Microbial Diversity and Heterogeneity in Sandy Subsurface Soils

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