Composition and diversity of microbial communities recovered from surrogate minerals incubated in an acidic uranium-contaminated aquifer

Journal Article · Fri Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2004 · Applied and Environmental Microbiology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.70.10.6037-6046.2004· OSTI ID:986464

Reardon, Catherine L ^[1]; Cummings, David E ^[2]; Petzke, Lynn M ^[2]; Kinsall, Barry Lee ^[3]; Watson, David B ^[3]; Peyton, Brent M ^[4]; Geesey, Gill G ^[1]

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1. Montana State University
2. Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
3. ORNL
4. Washington State University

Our understanding of subsurface microbiology is hindered by the inaccessibility of this environment, particularly when the hydrogeologic medium is contaminated with toxic substances. In this study, surrogate geological media contained in a porous receptacle were incubated in a well within the saturated zone of a pristine region of an aquifer to capture populations from the extant communities. After an 8-week incubation, the media were recovered, and the microbial community that developed on each medium was compared to the community recovered from groundwater and native sediments from the same region of the aquifer, using 16S DNA coding for rRNA (rDNA)-based terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). The groundwater and sediment communities were highly distinct from one another, and the communities that developed on the various media were more similar to groundwater communities than to sediment communities. 16S rDNA clone libraries of communities that developed on particles of a specular hematite medium incubated in the same well as the media used for T-RFLP analysis were compared with those obtained from an acidic, uranium-contaminated region of the same aquifer. The hematite-associated community formed in the pristine area was highly diverse at the species level, with 25 distinct phylotypes identified, the majority of which (73%) were affiliated with the {beta}-Proteobacteria. Similarly, the hematite-associated community formed in the contaminated area was populated in large part by {beta}-Proteobacteria (62%); however, only 13 distinct phylotypes were apparent. The three numerically dominant clones from the hematite-associated community from the contaminated site were affiliated with metal- and radionuclide-tolerant or acidophilic taxa, consistent with the environmental conditions. Only two populations were common to both sites.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: SC USDOE - Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 986464
• Journal Information: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Journal Name: Applied and Environmental Microbiology Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 70; ISSN 0099-2240
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
AQUIFERS
COMMUNITIES
DNA
HEMATITE
INCUBATION
SEDIMENTS