Very Low Phytoplankton Diversity in a Tropical Saline-Alkaline Lake, with Co-dominance of Arthrospira fusiformis (Cyanobacteria) and Picocystis salinarum (Chlorophyta).

Lake Dziani Dzaha (Mayotte Island, Indian Ocean) is a tropical thalassohaline lake which geochemical and biological conditions make it a unique aquatic ecosystem considered as a modern analogue of Precambrian environments. In the present study, we focused on the diversity of phytoplanktonic communities, which produce very high and stable biomass (mean2014-2015 = 652 ± 179 µg chlorophyll a L-1). As predicted by classical community ecology paradigms, and as observed in similar environments, a single species is expected to dominate the phytoplanktonic communities. To test this hypothesis, we sampled water column in the deepest part of the lake (18 m) during rainy and dry seasons for two consecutive years. Phytoplanktonic communities were characterized using a combination of metagenomic, microscopy-based and flow cytometry approaches, and we used statistical modeling to identify the environmental factors determining the abundance of dominant organisms. As hypothesized, the overall diversity of the phytoplanktonic communities was very low (15 OTUs), but we observed a co-dominance of two, and not only one, OTUs, viz., Arthrospira fusiformis (Cyanobacteria) and Picocystis salinarum (Chlorophyta). We observed a decrease in the abundance of these co-dominant taxa along the depth profile and identified the adverse environmental factors driving this decline. The functional traits measured on isolated strains of these two taxa (i.e., size, pigment composition, and concentration) are then compared and discussed to explain their capacity to cope with the extreme environmental conditions encountered in the aphotic, anoxic, and sulfidic layers of the water column of Lake Dziani Dzaha.

Cyanobacterial formation of intracellular Ca-carbonates in undersaturated solutions.

Cyanobacteria have long been thought to induce the formation of Ca-carbonates as secondary by-products of their metabolic activity, by shifting the chemical composition of their extracellular environment to conditions favoring mineral precipitation. Some cyanobacterial species forming Ca-carbonates intracellularly were recently discovered. However, the environmental conditions under which this intracellular biomineralization process can occur and the impact of cyanobacterial species forming Ca-carbonates intracellularly on extracellular carbonatogenesis are not known. Here, we show that these cyanobacteria can form Ca-carbonates intracellularly while growing in extracellular solutions undersaturated with respect to all Ca-carbonate phases, that is, conditions thermodynamically unfavorable to mineral precipitation. This shows that intracellular Ca-carbonate biomineralization is an active process; that is, it costs energy provided by the cells. The cost of energy may be due to the active accumulation of Ca intracellularly. Moreover, unlike cyanobacterial strains that have been usually considered before by studies on Ca-carbonate biomineralization, cyanobacteria forming intracellular carbonates may slow down or hamper extracellular carbonatogenesis, by decreasing the saturation index of their extracellular solution following the buffering of the concentration of extracellular calcium to low levels.

Simultaneous Nitrite/Nitrate Imagery at Millimeter Scale through the Water-Sediment Interface.

The present study describes new procedures to obtain at millimeter resolution the spatial distribution of nitrite and nitrate in porewaters, combining diffusive equilibrium in thin films (DET), colorimetry and hyperspectral imagery. Nitrite distribution can be easily achieved by adapting the well-known colorimetric method from Griess (1879) and using a common flatbed scanner with a limit of detection about 1.7 µmol L(-1). Nitrate distribution can be obtained after reduction into nitrite by a vanadium chloride reagent. However, the concentration of vanadium chloride used in this protocol brings coloration with a wide spectral signature that creates interference only deconvolvable by imaging treatment from an entire visible spectrum for each pixel (spectral analysis). This can be achieved by hyperspectral imaging. The protocol retained in the present study allows obtaining a nitrite/nitrate image with micromolar limit of detection. The methods were applied in sediments from the Loire Estuary after different treatments and allowed to precisely describe two-dimensional millimeter features. The present technique adds to the combination of gel-colorimetry and hyperspectral imagery a very promising new application of wide interest for environmental issues in the context of early diagenesis and benthic fluxes.

Millimeter-scale alkalinity measurement in marine sediment using DET probes and colorimetric determination.

Constrained DET (Diffusive Equilibration in Thin films) probes equipped with 75 sampling layers of agarose gel (DGT Research(©)) were used to sample bottom and pore waters in marine sediment with a 2 mm vertical resolution. After retrieval, each piece of hydrogel, corresponding to 25 µL, was introduced into 1 mL of colorimetric reagent (CR) solution consisting of formic acid and bromophenol blue. After the elution/reaction time, absorbance of the latter mixture was read at 590 nm and compared to a calibration curve obtained with the same protocol applied to mini DET probes soaked in sodium hydrogen carbonate standard solutions. This method allows rapid alkalinity determinations for the small volumes of anoxic pore water entrapped into the gel. The method was assessed on organic-rich coastal marine sediments from Thau lagoon (France). Alkalinity values in the overlying waters were in agreement with data obtained by classical sampling techniques. Pore water data showed a progressive increase of alkalinity in the sediment from 2 to 10 mmol kg(-1), corresponding to anaerobic respiration in organic-rich sediments. Moreover, replicates of high-resolution DET profiles showed important lateral heterogeneity at a decimeter scale. This underlines the importance of high-resolution spatial methods for alkalinity profiling in coastal marine systems.

Excretion of glutamate from Corynebacterium glutamicum triggered by amine surfactants.

Corynebacterium glutamicum is used for the industrial production of glutamate. Excretion of the amino acid may be induced by various means. We have analyzed the characteristics of glutamate excretion induced by two amine surfactants, dodecylammonium acetate (DA) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTA). Addition of these surfactants induced an immediate efflux of internal glutamate. It also induced a perturbation of the energetic parameters of the cell (decrease of delta mu H, decrease of the internal ATP concentration). The efflux was not the result of these perturbations: glutamate is taken up by the cells via an ATP-dependent unidirectional active transport system and no efflux took place as a consequence of an artificial decrease of the energetic parameters. In addition, amine surfactants also induced an excretion of other species, in particular potassium. We have tested the possibility that the effluxes result from a permeabilization of the lipid bilayer by analyzing the interactions between the surfactants and liposomes.