Sessile bacteria: An important component of the microbial population in small mountain streams 1

Geesey, Gill G.; Mutch, Robert A.; Costerton, J. W.; Green, R. B.

doi:10.4319/lo.1978.23.6.1214

Cited by 350 publications

(187 citation statements)

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“…tracellular polymer production has been observed in aquatic (mostly freshwater) systems (Paerl 1974(Paerl , 1978Geesey et al 1978;Christensen et al 1985), but information on the polymer-producing organisms and the composition of the polymers is limited. Hobbie and Lee (1980) suggested that extracellular polysaccharides are more abundant than bacteria in sediments and may be an important food source for macrobenthos.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decomposition of ¹⁴C‐labeled organic substances in marine sediments1

Henrichs

Doyle

1986

Limnology & Oceanography

107

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The depth variation of total organic carbon (TOC), organic matter composition, and porewater composition in marine sediments suggests that different components of the organic matter undergo decomposition at widely different rates. The decomposition of 14C-labeled organic substances was followed in sediment microcosms in the laboratory. The substances used were chosen to simulate a portion of material settling to the sediment-water interface (a marine diatom) or hypothesized components of refractory sediment organic matter (melanoidins and a bacterial polymer). The microcosms were found to be good models of the sediment-water interface in terms of how well they mimicked sediment decomposition rates and processes. The decomposition of the labeled material and the natural sediment TOC were monitored over 1 month: the water overlying the sediment remained oxic, and net consumption of nitrate was small. There was no detectable sulfate reduction. The algae and the bacterial polymer were decomposed on average 9 x faster than the melanoidins and 90 x faster than the natural sediment TOC. The soluble fraction of the algae was decomposed more rapidly than the particulate material.Berner (1980) proposed a model for the multiple "pools" of organic matter in sediments being decomposed at different rates. This "multiple-G" model is based in part on depth profiles of total organic carbon (TOC) and porewater-dissolved sulfate in anoxic marine sediments, which show a marked decrease in the rate of sulfate reduction with depth even though a substantial fraction of the surface TOC concentration remains. Others (e.g. Jorgensen 1978;Murray et al. 1978;Henrichs and Farrington 1984;Martens and Klump 1984) have found that the multiple-G model, with firstorder decomposition kinetics for a labile organic fraction, fits porewater and sediment data from a variety of sediments. Additional evidence for the multiple-G model has been presented by Westrich and Berner (1984), who found that plankton subjected to a previous interval of oxic decomposition decomposed more slowly when added to anoxic sediments than did fresh plankton. In several studies of plankton decomposition (Garber 1984 and refcrenccs cited therein) initially rapid remineralization rates '

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decomposition of ¹⁴C‐labeled organic substances in marine sediments1

Henrichs

Doyle

1986

Limnology & Oceanography

107

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“…The bulk of microbial biomass in headwater streams is associated with sediment biofilms (Geesey et al 1978) that consist of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) containing bacteria, to some extent fungi and sometimes also algae (Lock 1993). The heterotrophic biofilm microorganisms commonly satisfy their energy and carbon demand from dissolved organic carbon (DOC) that is immobilized from the porewater by the EPS matrix.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immobilization and metabolism of dissolved organic carbon by natural sediment biofilms in a Mediterranean and temperate stream

Battin¹,

Butturini²,

Sabater³

1999

Aquat. Microb. Ecol.

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The immobilization and metabolism of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in natural streambed biofilms from a Mediterranean (La Solana [SOL], Spain) and a temperate (Oberer Seebach [OSB], Austna) stream were investigated using plug-flow bioreactors. Bioreactors were subjected to short-term pulses of allochthonous DOC, i.e. extracted from stream adjacent soils, and of autochthonous DOC, i.e. extracted from stream penphyton. In SOL biofilms, relatively high concentrations of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) CO-occurred with retarded metabolic response to DOC pulses and relatively low respiration rates. In OSB biofilms, however, EPS concentrations were lower and respirat~on rates were elevated along with immediate metabolic responses to DOC pulses. Furthermore, the uptake rate of DOC from the bulk water increased hnearly with the respiration rate in OSB biofilms, yet no such relationship existed in SOL biofilms Carbon normahzed respiration rates (pg O2 mg-' DOC h-') generally revealed higher metabolic avallabillty of autochthonous DOC than allochthonous DOC in both streams. Cross-feeding experiments (e.g. feeding OSB bioreactors with SOL DOC, and vice versa) revealed higher metabolic availability of terrigenous DOC from OSB than from SOL catchment so~ls. Cross feeding also suggested that autochthonous DOC from SOL inhibits the metabolism of OSB biofilms. We tentatively propose cyanobacterial toxins as the source of this inhibition. Contrasting patterns of biofilm EPS concentrations, DOC immobilization and metabohsm suggest an adaptive response of the microbial biofilm community to major catchment-scale (e.g. clmate, vegetation and diagenesis of terrigenous DOC) and channel (e.g. storm frequency and scouring) processes in temperate and Mediterranean streams.

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“…Most contemporary biofilm research rests on the discovery made more than 35 years ago by Maurice Lock, Gill Geesey and Bill Costerton: bacteria attached to surfaces dominate microbial life in streams [1][2][3] . These microbiologists pioneered research into stream biofilms, also termed periphyton or epilithon, and described them as complex aggregates of bacteria, algae, protozoa, fungi and meiobenthos.…”

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The ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms

et al. 2016

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The perception that most microorganisms live as complex communities that are attached to surfaces has profoundly changed microbiology over the past decades. Most, if not all, bacteria can form biofilms, which are communities of cells embedded in a porous extracellular matrix.Dental plaque, the microorganisms on catheters and implants that cause persistent infections and the fouling of ship hulls and pipework are all examples of biofilms with important implications for public health and industrial processes. Most contemporary biofilm research rests on the discovery made more than 35 years ago by Maurice Lock, Gill Geesey and Bill Costerton: bacteria attached to surfaces dominate microbial life in streams [1][2][3] . These microbiologists pioneered research into stream biofilms, also termed periphyton or epilithon, and described them as complex aggregates of bacteria, algae, protozoa, fungi and meiobenthos. The early study of stream biofilms also highlighted the relevance of interactions between microbial phototrophs and heterotrophs for energy fluxes and the role of the biofilm matrix as the site of extracellular enzyme activity and adsorption of dissolved organic matter (DOM) 3,4 .Since these early days, the study of the ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms has slowly developed in the wake of thriving research on bacterial biofilms -often comprising 3 only a single strain, of interest to medical microbiology, rather than the polymicrobial communities found in stream biofilms -and on the microbial ecology of marine and lake planktonic communities 5 . Unlike bacterial biofilms grown in the laboratory, biofilms in streams are continuously exposed to a diverse inoculum that includes bacteria, archaea, algae, fungi, protozoa and even metazoa. These diverse biological 'building blocks', when combined with the dynamic flow of streamwater, generate biofilms with inherently complex and varying physical structures that have implications for microbial functioning and ecosystem processes 6 . In streams, biofilms are key sites of enzymatic activity 7 , including organic matter cycling, ecosystem respiration and primary production and, as such, form the basis of the food web.Why should we study the ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms? Streams sculpt the continental surface, forming dense and conspicuous channel networks that can be thought of as ecological arteries that perfuse the landscape. Streams are connected to their catchments through various surface and subsurface flow paths and notably through the hyporheic zone in the streambed at the interface between groundwater and streamwater 8 . Microbial cells, solutes and particles enter streams through these flow paths and, en route to downstream ecosystems and ultimately to the oceans, they may interact with the biofilms that colonize the large surface area provided by the streambed as a 'microbial skin' (BOX 1). As a result, the streambed and its biofilm microbiome contribute to biogeochemical fluxes 8 . Indeed, stream biofilms are now recognized as su...

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Sessile bacteria: An important component of the microbial population in small mountain streams 1

Cited by 350 publications

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Decomposition of ¹⁴C‐labeled organic substances in marine sediments1

Decomposition of ¹⁴C‐labeled organic substances in marine sediments1

Immobilization and metabolism of dissolved organic carbon by natural sediment biofilms in a Mediterranean and temperate stream

The ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms

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Sessile bacteria: An important component of the microbial population in small mountain streams 1

Cited by 350 publications

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Decomposition of 14C‐labeled organic substances in marine sediments1

Decomposition of 14C‐labeled organic substances in marine sediments1

Immobilization and metabolism of dissolved organic carbon by natural sediment biofilms in a Mediterranean and temperate stream

The ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms

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Decomposition of ¹⁴C‐labeled organic substances in marine sediments1

Decomposition of ¹⁴C‐labeled organic substances in marine sediments1