Microbial Interactions With Dissolved Organic Matter Drive Carbon Dynamics and Community Succession
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Inst. for Environmental Genomics, Dept. of Microbiology and Plant Biology
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Earth and Biological Sciences Division; Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Geochemical and Environmental Research Group
- Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Inst. for Environmental Genomics, Dept. of Microbiology and Plant Biology
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS); Shandong Univ., Jinan (China). Key Lab. of Particle Physics and Particle Irradiation (MOE). National Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, School of Physics
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth and Environmental Sciences; Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States). Inst. for Environmental Genomics, Dept. of Microbiology and Plant Biology; Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Joint Lab. of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dept. of Microbiology, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Inst. for a Secure and Sustainable Environment; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
Knowledge of dynamic interactions between natural organic matter (NOM) and microbial communities is critical not only to delineate the routes of NOM degradation/transformation and carbon (C) fluxes, but also to understand microbial community evolution and succession in ecosystems. Yet, these processes in subsurface environments are usually studied independently, and a comprehensive view has been elusive thus far. In this study, we fed sediment-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) to groundwater microbes and continually analyzed microbial transformation of DOM over a 50-day incubation. To document fine-scale changes in DOM chemistry, we applied high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) and soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (sXAS). We also monitored the trajectory of microbial biomass, community structure and activity over this time period. Together, these analyses provided an unprecedented comprehensive view of interactions between sediment-derived DOM and indigenous subsurface groundwater microbes. Microbial decomposition of labile C in DOM was immediately evident from biomass increase and total organic carbon (TOC) decrease. The change of microbial composition was closely related to DOM turnover: microbial community in early stages of incubation was influenced by relatively labile tannin- and protein-like compounds; while in later stages the community composition evolved to be most correlated with less labile lipid- and lignin-like compounds. These changes in microbial community structure and function, coupled with the contribution of microbial products to DOM pool affected the further transformation of DOM, culminating in stark changes to DOM composition over time. Our study demonstrates a distinct response of microbial communities to biotransformation of DOM, which improves our understanding of coupled interactions between sediment-derived DOM, microbial processes, and community structure in subsurface groundwater.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725; AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1460341
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1474860; OSTI ID: 1581959
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-135810; ark:/13030/qt3hk1f62c
- Journal Information:
- Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol. 9, Issue JUN; ISSN 1664-302X
- Publisher:
- Frontiers Research FoundationCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
DOM composition alters ecosystem function during microbial processing of isolated sources
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journal | January 2019 |
The selective pressures on the microbial community in a metal-contaminated aquifer
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journal | December 2018 |
The Contribution of Coniferous Canopy to the Molecular Diversity of Dissolved Organic Matter in Rainfall
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journal | January 2019 |
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