High-density PhyloChip profiling of stimulated aquifer microbial communities reveals a complex response to acetate amendment
There is increasing interest in harnessing the functional diversity of indigenous microbial communities to transform and remediate a wide range of environmental contaminants. Understanding the response of communities to stimulation, including flanking taxa, presents important opportunities for optimizing remediation approaches. We used high-density PhyloChip microarray analysis to comprehensively determine community membership and abundance patterns amongst a suite of samples from U(VI) bioremediation experiments. Samples were unstimulated or collected during Fe(III) and sulfate reduction from an acetate-augmented aquifer in Rifle, Colorado, and from laboratory experiments using field-collected materials. Results showed the greatest diversity in abundant SRB lineages was present in naturally-reduced sediment. Desulfuromonadales and Desulfobacterales were consistently identified as the dominant Fe(III)- and sulfate-reducing bacteria (IRB and SRB) throughout acetate amendment experiments. Stimulated communities also exhibited a high degree of functional redundancy amongst enriched flanking members. Not surprisingly, competition for both sulfate and iron was evident amongst abundant taxa, but the distribution and abundance of these ancillary SRB (Peptococcaceae, Desulfovibrionales and Syntrophobacterales), and lineages containing IRB (excluding Desulfobacteraceae) was heterogeneous amongst sample types. Interesting, amongst the most abundant taxa, particularly during sulfate reduction, were Epsilonproteobacteria that perform microaerobic or nitrate-dependant sulfur oxidation, and a number of bacteria other than Geobacteraceae that may enzymatically reduce U(VI). Finally, in depth community probing with PhyloChip determined the efficacy of experimental approaches, notably revealing striking similarity amongst stimulated sediment (from drill cores and in-situ columns) and groundwater communities, and demonstrating that sediment-packed in-situ (down-well) columns served as an ideal method for subsurface biostimulation.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1047981
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-79168; FMECEZ; 16309; KP1702030; TRN: US1204062
- Journal Information:
- FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Vol. 81, Issue 1; ISSN 0168-6496
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ABUNDANCE
ACETATES
AQUIFERS
BACTERIA
BIOREMEDIATION
COLORADO
COMMUNITIES
DISTRIBUTION
DRILL CORES
FUNCTIONALS
IRON
OXIDATION
REDUNDANCY
SEDIMENTS
STIMULATION
SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA
SULFATES
SULFUR
Proteogenomics
functional diversity
bioremediation
uranium
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory