Sulfur Cycling in the Terrestrial Subsurface: Commensal Interactions, Spatial Scales, and Microbial Heterogeneity

Ulrich, Glenn A.; Martino, Diego; Burger, K.C.; Routh, Joyanto; Grossman, Ethan L.; Ammerman, James W.; Suflita, Joseph M.

doi:10.1007/s002489900101

Cited by 60 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The aquifers studied were deposited in uvial and/or deltaic environments (Graber 1996;Martino et al 1998;Ulrich et al 1998). Eocene-age sediments are composed of sands and silts with interbedded clays and lignites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anaerobic Microbial Growth from Components of Cretaceous Shales

Krumholz¹,

Harris²,

Suflita³

2002

Geomicrobiology Journal

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Cretaceous rock formations have been shown to harbor extant sulfate-reducing microbial communities. At these sites, microbial activity is concentrated at rock interfaceswhere there is likely a diffusion of nutrients from low permeability organic rich shales to higher permeability sandstones. This study was undertaken to further characterize this process and to determine the components of shale that provide electron donors for sulfate reduction activity. To this end, samples of Cretaceous sandstones were incubated with ground shales from available depths at the Cerro Negro exploratory drilling site in northwestern New Mexico. Both sulfate consumption as an indicator of sulfate reduction and acetate production were stimulated in the sandstone-shale incubations. The greatest levels of stimulation were observed with shales originally closest to the lower sandstone-shale interface and a strong correlation was observed between shale organic carbon and microbial activity. These results suggested that the organic matter in shale was supplying the needed electron donor for the sulfate-reducing microbial community. Further evidence for this interpretation was provided when a pure culture of Acetobacterium psammolithicum, an acetogen isolated from this site, was stimulated to produce acetate by the addition of autoclaved shales. To investigate the components in shale that were responsible for stimulating microbial activity, we extracted shale organic material. Aqueous extracts and to a lesser extent neutral ether extractions stimulated activity although neither to the same extent as the shale itself. Alkaline aqueous extracts were fractionated using XAD-7 resin. Each of the fractions contributed to some degree, but the greatest stimulation in microbial activity was attributed to both the hydrophilic eluate and to the fulvic acid fraction. These data indicate that a relatively complex group of organic compounds supply electron donors to the sandstone microbial communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anaerobic Microbial Growth from Components of Cretaceous Shales

Krumholz¹,

Harris²,

Suflita³

2002

Geomicrobiology Journal

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“…However, the co-contamination of the Bitterfeld aquifer with BTEX compounds and the release of reduced organic compounds from the lignite layer that underline the Quaternary aquifer may provide electron donors for dechlorinating bacteria, as previously suggested (Heidrich et al 2004;Nijenhuis et al 2007). A transformation or degradation by fermenting bacteria of larger molecules released from the lignite layer could then deliver smaller molecules such as organic acids, alcohols, aromatic monomers, and H 2 as electron donor and carbon source sustaining reductive dechlorination activity (Chapelle et al 1987;Ulrich et al 1998). Nevertheless, the absence of quantitative data regarding electron donors do not permit to evaluate the impact of possible changes of electron donors concentrations along the studied vertical profile on reductive dechlorination activity.…”

Section: Distribution Of Potential Dechlorinators Along the Vertical mentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In the Quaternary aquifer, depth 4 was selected because it is in the immediate vicinity of the lignite layer which may release electron donor and carbon source (Chapelle et al 1987;Ulrich et al 1998), and thus may locally sustain bacteria involved in reductive dechlorination. In the Tertiary aquifer, depth 7 (36.5 mbS) was selected because it is located in the middle of the aquifer (depths 5 and 10 at 27.5 and 48.5 mbS, respectively), and thus is considered representative of conditions that occur in this aquifer.…”

Section: Cloning-sequencingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Groundwater Microbial Communities, Dechlorinating Bacteria, and In Situ Biodegradation of Chloroethenes Along a Vertical Gradient

Imfeld

Pieper

Shani

et al. 2011

Water Air Soil Pollut

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The variability of hydrogeochemical conditions can affect groundwater microbial communities and the natural attenuation of organic chemicals in contaminated aquifers. It is suspected that in situ biodegradation in anoxic plumes of chloroethenes depends on the spatial location of the contaminants and the electron donors and acceptors, as well as the patchiness of bacterial populations capable of reductive dechlorination. However, knowledge about the spatial variability of bacterial communities and in situ biodegradation of chloroethenes in aquifers is limited. Here, we show that changes of the bacterial communities, the distribution of putative dechlorinating bacteria and in situ biodegradation at the border of a chloroethenes plume (Bitterfeld, Germany) are related to local hydrogeochemical conditions. Biotic reductive dechlorination occurred along a 50 m vertical gradient, although significant changes of the hydrogeochemistry and contaminant concentrations, bacterial communities and distribution of putative dechlorinating bacteria (Dehalobacter spp., Desulfitobacterium spp., Dehalococcoides spp., and Geobacter spp.) were observed. The occurrence and variability of in situ biodegradation of chloroethenes were revealed by shifts in the isotope compositions of the chloroethenes along the vertical gradient (δ 13 C ranging from −14.4‰ to −4.4‰). Our results indicate that habitat characteristics were compartmentalized along the vertical gradient and in situ biodegradation occurred with specific reaction conditions at discrete depth. The polyphasic approach that combined geochemical and biomolecular methods with compound-specific analysis enabled to characterize the spatial variability of hydrochemistry, bacterial communities and in situ biodegradation of chloroethenes in a heterogeneous aquifer.

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“…Although early studies found little variability in total cell numbers (Ghiorse and Wilson 1988), numerous later studies have shown that microorganisms are heterogeneously distributed in subsurface environments Albrechtsen and Winding 1992;Brockman and Murray 1997;Colwell et al 1997;Ernstsen, Binnerup, and Sorensen 1998). In addition to abundance, diversity indices, growth rates, and metabolic activity also are highly variable in subsurface samples Jones, Beeman, and Suflita 1989;Phelps, Raione, White, and Fliermans 1989;Chapelle and Lovley 1990;Kieft et al 1993;Stevens and Downloaded by [North Dakota State University] at 21:24 01 November 2014 Holbert 1995;Ringelberg, Sutton, and White 1997;Ulrich et al 1998;Vreeland, Piselli, McDonnough, and Meyers 1998). The great majority of the studies have focused on microbial variability between geological strata in deep saturated sediments (Brockman and Murray 1997).…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%