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Title: Spatial distribution of an uranium-respiring betaproteobacterium at the Rifle, CO field research site

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [3]
  1. Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Coimbra (Portugal)

The Department of Energy’s Integrated Field-Scale Subsurface Research Challenge Site (IFRC) at Rifle, Colorado was created to address the gaps in knowledge on the mechanisms and rates of U(VI) bioreduction in alluvial sediments. Previous studies at the Rifle IFRC have linked microbial processes to uranium immobilization during acetate amendment. Several key bacteria believed to be involved in radionuclide containment have been described; however, most of the evidence implicating uranium reduction with specific microbiota has been indirect. Here, we report on the cultivation of a microorganism from the Rifle IFRC that reduces uranium and appears to utilize it as a terminal electron acceptor for respiration with acetate as electron donor. Furthermore, this bacterium constitutes a significant proportion of the subsurface sediment community prior to biostimulation based on TRFLP profiling of 16S rRNA genes. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicates that the microorganism is a betaproteobacterium with a high similarity to Burkholderia fungorum. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a betaproteobacterium capable of uranium respiration. Our results indicate that this microorganism occurs commonly in alluvial sediments located between 3-6 m below ground surface at Rifle and may play a role in the initial reduction of uranium at the site.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1185054
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Journal Name: PLoS ONE Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 10; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (8)

Identification of Bacteria Synthesizing Ribosomal RNA in Response to Uranium Addition During Biostimulation at the Rifle, CO Integrated Field Research Site journal September 2015
Proteogenomic Analysis of Burkholderia Species Strains 25 and 46 Isolated from Uraniferous Soils Reveals Multiple Mechanisms to Cope with Uranium Stress journal December 2018
Metagenomics-Guided Survey, Isolation, and Characterization of Uranium Resistant Microbiota from the Savannah River Site, USA journal April 2019
Physiological and Comparative Genomic Analysis of Arthrobacter sp. SRS-W-1-2016 Provides Insights on Niche Adaptation for Survival in Uraniferous Soils journal January 2018
Metagenomic Evaluation of Bacterial and Fungal Assemblages Enriched within Diffusion Chambers and Microbial Traps Containing Uraniferous Soils journal September 2019
Assessment of Bacterial Community Composition of Anaerobic Granular Sludge in Response to Short-Term Uranium Exposure journal February 2018
Metagenomics-Guided Survey, Isolation, and Characterization of Uranium Resistant Microbiota from the Savannah River Site, USA journal April 2019
Metagenomic Evaluation of Bacterial and Fungal Assemblages Enriched within Diffusion Chambers and Microbial Traps Containing Uraniferous Soils journal September 2019