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Title: Microbial mineral colonization across a subsurface redox transition zone

Abstract

Here, this study employed 16S rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing to examine the hypothesis that chemolithotrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) would preferentially colonize the Fe(II)-bearing mineral biotite compared to quartz sand when the minerals were incubated in situ within a subsurface redox transition zone (RTZ) at the Hanford 300 Area site in Richland, WA, USA. The work was motivated by the recently documented presence of neutral-pH chemolithotrophic FeOB capable of oxidizing structural Fe(II) in primary silicate and secondary phyllosilicate minerals in 300 Area sediments and groundwater (Benzine et al., 2013). Sterilized portions of sand+biotite or sand alone were incubated in situ for 5 months within a multilevel sampling (MLS) apparatus that spanned a ca. 2-m interval across the RTZ in two separate groundwater wells. Parallel MLS measurements of aqueous geochemical species were performed prior to deployment of the minerals. Contrary to expectations, the 16S rRNA gene libraries showed no significant difference in microbial communities that colonized the sand+biotite vs. sand-only deployments. Both mineral-associated and groundwater communities were dominated by heterotrophic taxa, with organisms from the Pseudomonadaceae accounting for up to 70% of all reads from the colonized minerals. These results are consistent with previous results indicating the capacity for heterotrophic metabolism (includingmore » anaerobic metabolism below the RTZ) as well as the predominance of heterotrophic taxa within 300 Area sediments and groundwater. Although heterotrophic organisms clearly dominated the colonized minerals, several putative lithotrophic (NH4+, H2, Fe(II), and HS- oxidizing) taxa were detected in significant abundance above and within the RTZ. Lastly, such organisms may play a role in the coupling of anaerobic microbial metabolism to oxidative pathways with attendant impacts on elemental cycling and redox-sensitive contaminant behavior in the vicinity of the RTZ.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI (United States)
  2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1260831
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1347712
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-112780
Journal ID: ISSN 1664-302X
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Microbiology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 1664-302X
Publisher:
Frontiers Research Foundation
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; subsurface sediments; redox transition; minerals; colonization; amplicon sequencing; 58 GEOSCIENCES

Citation Formats

Converse, Brandon J., McKinley, James P., Resch, Charles T., and Roden, Eric E. Microbial mineral colonization across a subsurface redox transition zone. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00858.
Converse, Brandon J., McKinley, James P., Resch, Charles T., & Roden, Eric E. Microbial mineral colonization across a subsurface redox transition zone. United States. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00858
Converse, Brandon J., McKinley, James P., Resch, Charles T., and Roden, Eric E. 2015. "Microbial mineral colonization across a subsurface redox transition zone". United States. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00858. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1260831.
@article{osti_1260831,
title = {Microbial mineral colonization across a subsurface redox transition zone},
author = {Converse, Brandon J. and McKinley, James P. and Resch, Charles T. and Roden, Eric E.},
abstractNote = {Here, this study employed 16S rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing to examine the hypothesis that chemolithotrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) would preferentially colonize the Fe(II)-bearing mineral biotite compared to quartz sand when the minerals were incubated in situ within a subsurface redox transition zone (RTZ) at the Hanford 300 Area site in Richland, WA, USA. The work was motivated by the recently documented presence of neutral-pH chemolithotrophic FeOB capable of oxidizing structural Fe(II) in primary silicate and secondary phyllosilicate minerals in 300 Area sediments and groundwater (Benzine et al., 2013). Sterilized portions of sand+biotite or sand alone were incubated in situ for 5 months within a multilevel sampling (MLS) apparatus that spanned a ca. 2-m interval across the RTZ in two separate groundwater wells. Parallel MLS measurements of aqueous geochemical species were performed prior to deployment of the minerals. Contrary to expectations, the 16S rRNA gene libraries showed no significant difference in microbial communities that colonized the sand+biotite vs. sand-only deployments. Both mineral-associated and groundwater communities were dominated by heterotrophic taxa, with organisms from the Pseudomonadaceae accounting for up to 70% of all reads from the colonized minerals. These results are consistent with previous results indicating the capacity for heterotrophic metabolism (including anaerobic metabolism below the RTZ) as well as the predominance of heterotrophic taxa within 300 Area sediments and groundwater. Although heterotrophic organisms clearly dominated the colonized minerals, several putative lithotrophic (NH4+, H2, Fe(II), and HS- oxidizing) taxa were detected in significant abundance above and within the RTZ. Lastly, such organisms may play a role in the coupling of anaerobic microbial metabolism to oxidative pathways with attendant impacts on elemental cycling and redox-sensitive contaminant behavior in the vicinity of the RTZ.},
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2015.00858},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1260831}, journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
issn = {1664-302X},
number = ,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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Cited by: 16 works
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Microbial Reductive Transformation of Phyllosilicate Fe(III) and U(VI) in Fluvial Subsurface Sediments
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Examining the global distribution of dominant archaeal populations in soil
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Spatial and temporal dynamics of the microbial community in the Hanford unconfined aquifer
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Quantifying community assembly processes and identifying features that impose them
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Use of Ferric and Ferrous Iron Containing Minerals for Respiration by Desulfitobacterium frappieri
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Search and clustering orders of magnitude faster than BLAST
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UCHIME improves sensitivity and speed of chimera detection
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Geothrix fermentans gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel Fe(III)-reducing bacterium from a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer
journal, October 1999


Single-cell genomics reveals metabolic strategies for microbial growth and survival in an oligotrophic aquifer
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Iron metabolism in anoxic environments at near neutral pH
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Growth of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria by aerobic hydrogen oxidation
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journal, March 2010


What's New Is Old: Resolving the Identity of Leptothrix ochracea Using Single Cell Genomics, Pyrosequencing and FISH
journal, March 2011


The Role of Nitrogen Fixation in Cyanobacterial Bloom Toxicity in a Temperate, Eutrophic Lake
journal, February 2013


Geochemical Processes Controlling Migration of Tank Wastes in Hanford's Vadose Zone
journal, January 2007


Isolation of Phyllosilicate–Iron Redox Cycling Microorganisms from an Illite–Smectite Rich Hydromorphic Soil
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Fe-phyllosilicate redox cycling organisms from a redox transition zone in Hanford 300 Area sediments
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Impact of hydrologic boundaries on microbial planktonic and biofilm communities in shallow terrestrial subsurface environments
journal, September 2018


Microbial community assembly differs across minerals in a rhizosphere microcosm
journal, September 2018


Capability for arsenic mobilization in groundwater is distributed across broad phylogenetic lineages
journal, September 2019


Impact of hydrologic boundaries on microbial planktonic and biofilm communities in shallow terrestrial subsurface environments
journal, September 2018