Uranium Biomineralization by Natural Microbial Phosphatase Activities in the Subsurface

Technical Report · Mon Apr 06 04:00:00 EDT 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1177452· OSTI ID:1177452

Sobecky, Patricia A. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States); The University of Alabama

In this project, inter-disciplinary research activities were conducted in collaboration among investigators at The University of Alabama (UA), Georgia Institute of Technology (GT), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light source (SSRL) to: (i) confirm that phosphatase activities of subsurface bacteria in Area 2 and 3 from the Oak Ridge Field Research Center result in solid U-phosphate precipitation in aerobic and anaerobic conditions; (ii) investigate the eventual competition between uranium biomineralization via U-phosphate precipitation and uranium bioreduction; (iii) determine subsurface microbial community structure changes of Area 2 soils following organophosphate amendments; (iv) obtain the complete genome sequences of the Rahnella sp. Y9-602 and the type-strain Rahnella aquatilis ATCC 33071 isolated from these soils; (v) determine if polyphosphate accumulation and phytate hydrolysis can be used to promote U(VI) biomineralization in subsurface sediments; (vi) characterize the effect of uranium on phytate hydrolysis by a new microorganism isolated from uranium-contaminated sediments; (vii) utilize positron-emission tomography to label and track metabolically-active bacteria in soil columns, and (viii) study the stability of the uranium phosphate mineral product. Microarray analyses and mineral precipitation characterizations were conducted in collaboration with DOE SBR-funded investigators at LBNL. Thus, microbial phosphorus metabolism has been shown to have a contributing role to uranium immobilization in the subsurface.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
• Contributing Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0002177
• OSTI ID: 1177452
• Report Number(s): DOE-Alabama--SC0002177
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
AEROBIC CONDITIONS
ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS
BACTERIA
BIOREMEDIATION
COMMUNITIES
COMPETITION
CONTAMINATION
COORDINATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS
HYDROLYSIS
METABOLISM
MINERALIZATION
ORNL
PHOSPHATASES
PHOSPHORUS
POSITRON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
PRECIPITATION
REDUCTION
SEDIMENTS
SOILS
SOLIDS
STABILITY
UNDERGROUND
URANIUM
URANIUM PHOSPHATES
bioremediation
uranium biomineralization
phosphorus cycle