Simultaneous sulfate and nitrate reduction in coastal sediments.

The oscillating redox conditions that characterize coastal sandy sediments foster microbial communities capable of respiring oxygen and nitrate simultaneously, thereby increasing the potential for organic matter remineralization, nitrogen (N)-loss and emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. It is unknown to what extent these conditions also lead to overlaps between dissimilatory nitrate and sulfate respiration. Here, we show that sulfate and nitrate respiration co-occur in the surface sediments of an intertidal sand flat. Furthermore, we found strong correlations between dissimilatory nitrite reduction to ammonium (DNRA) and sulfate reduction rates. Until now, the nitrogen and sulfur cycles were assumed to be mainly linked in marine sediments by the activity of nitrate-reducing sulfide oxidisers. However, transcriptomic analyses revealed that the functional marker gene for DNRA (nrfA) was more associated with microorganisms known to reduce sulfate rather than oxidise sulfide. Our results suggest that when nitrate is supplied to the sediment community upon tidal inundation, part of the sulfate reducing community may switch respiratory strategy to DNRA. Therefore increases in sulfate reduction rate in-situ may result in enhanced DNRA and reduced denitrification rates. Intriguingly, the shift from denitrification to DNRA did not influence the amount of N2O produced by the denitrifying community. Our results imply that microorganisms classically considered as sulfate reducers control the potential for DNRA within coastal sediments when redox conditions oscillate and therefore retain ammonium that would otherwise be removed by denitrification, exacerbating eutrophication.

Linking sedimentary sulfur and iron biogeochemistry to growth patterns of a cold-water coral mound in the Porcupine Basin, S.W. Ireland (IODP Expedition 307).

Challenger Mound, a 150-m-high cold-water coral mound on the eastern flank of the Porcupine Seabight off SW Ireland, was drilled during Expedition 307 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). Retrieved cores offer unique insight into an archive of Quaternary paleo-environmental change, long-term coral mound development, and the diagenetic alteration of these carbonate fabrics over time. To characterize biogeochemical carbon-iron-sulfur transformations in the mound sediments, the contents of dithionite- and HCl-extractable iron phases, iron monosulfide and pyrite, and acid-extractable calcium, magnesium, manganese, and strontium were determined. Additionally, the stable isotopic compositions of pore-water sulfate and solid-phase reduced sulfur compounds were analyzed. Sulfate penetrated through the mound sequence and into the underlying Miocene sediments, where a sulfate-methane transition zone was identified. Small sulfate concentration decreases (<7 mM) within the top 40 m of the mound suggested slow net rates of present-day organoclastic sulfate reduction. Increasing δ(34)S-sulfate values due to microbial sulfate reduction mirrored the decrease in sulfate concentrations. This process was accompanied by oxygen isotope exchange with water that was indicated by increasing δ(18)O-sulfate values, reaching equilibrium with pore-water at depth. Below 50 mbsf, sediment intervals with strong (34)S-enriched imprints on chromium-reducible sulfur (pyrite S), high degree-of-pyritization values, and semi-lithified diagenetic carbonate-rich layers characterized by poor coral preservation, were observed. These layers provided evidence for the occurrence of enhanced microbial sulfate-reducing activity in the mound in the past during periods of rapid mound aggradation and subsequent intervals of non-deposition or erosion when geochemical fronts remained stationary. During these periods, especially during the Early Pleistocene, elevated sulfate reduction rates facilitated the consumption of reducible iron oxide phases, coral dissolution, and the subsequent formation of carbonate cements.

Endosymbiotic sulphate-reducing and sulphide-oxidizing bacteria in an oligochaete worm.

Stable associations of more than one species of symbiont within a single host cell or tissue are assumed to be rare in metazoans because competition for space and resources between symbionts can be detrimental to the host. In animals with multiple endosymbionts, such as mussels from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and reef-building corals, the costs of competition between the symbionts are outweighed by the ecological and physiological flexibility gained by the hosts. A further option for the coexistence of multiple symbionts within a host is if these benefit directly from one another, but such symbioses have not been previously described. Here we show that in the gutless marine oligochaete Olavius algarvensis, endosymbiotic sulphate-reducing bacteria produce sulphide that can serve as an energy source for sulphide-oxidizing symbionts of the host. Thus, these symbionts do not compete for resources but rather share a mutalistic relationship with each other in an endosymbiotic sulphur cycle, in addition to their symbiotic relationship with the oligochaete host.

Dense populations of a giant sulfur bacterium in Namibian shelf sediments.

A previously unknown giant sulfur bacterium is abundant in sediments underlying the oxygen minimum zone of the Benguela Current upwelling system. The bacterium has a spherical cell that exceeds by up to 100-fold the biovolume of the largest known prokaryotes. On the basis of 16S ribosomal DNA sequence data, these bacteria are closely related to the marine filamentous sulfur bacteria Thioploca, abundant in the upwelling area off Chile and Peru. Similar to Thioploca, the giant bacteria oxidize sulfide with nitrate that is accumulated to

Distribution of bacterial populations in a stratified fjord (mariager fjord, denmark) quantified by in situ hybridization and related to chemical gradients in the water column.

Volumn 62, no. 4, p. 1392, lines 37 and 38: "Aluminum oxide filters (0.2 mm pore size; Anopore; Millipore GmbH, Eschborn, Germany)" should read "Aluminum oxide filters (0.2 (mu)m pore size; Anopore; Whatman, Inc., Clifton, N.J.)." Page 1403, reference 15: "Fenchel, T." should read "Fenchel, T., L. D. Kristensen, and L. Rasmussen." [This corrects the article on p. 1391 in vol. 62.].

Distribution of bacterial populations in a stratified fjord (mariager fjord, denmark) quantified by in situ hybridization and related to chemical gradients in the water column.

Volume 62, no. 4, p. 1391-1404: after publication of this article, it was brought to the attention of the authors that a more extensive treatment of the hydrodynamics of Mariager Fjord and the vertical distribution of bacteria and protozoa therein was published in a recent article by Fenchel et al. This work contains important information about the studied ecosystem, but unfortunately, the existence of this work was realized only after publication of our article. Thus, the following reference should have been cited in our article: [This corrects the article on p. 1391 in vol. 62.].

Distribution of bacterial populations in a stratified fjord (Mariager Fjord, Denmark) quantified by in situ hybridization and related to chemical gradients in the water column.

The vertical distribution of major and intermediate electron acceptors and donors was measured in a shallow stratified fjord. Peaks of zero valence sulfur, Mn(IV), and Fe(III) were observed in the chemocline separating oxic surface waters from sulfidic and anoxic bottom waters. The vertical fluxes of electron acceptors and donors (principally O2 and H2S) balanced within 5%; however, the zones of oxygen reduction and sulfide oxidation were clearly separated. The pathway of electron transfer between O2 and H2S was not apparent from the distribution of sulfur, nitrogen, or metal compounds investigated. The chemical zonation was related to bacterial populations as detected by ethidium bromide (EtBr) staining and by in situ hybridization with fluorescent oligonucleotide probes of increasing specificity. About half of all EtBr-stained cells were detectable with a general oligonucleotide probe for all eubacteria when digital image analysis algorithms were used to improve sensitivity. Both EtBr staining and hybridization indicated a surprisingly uniform distribution of bacteria throughout the water column. However, the average cell size and staining intensity as well as the abundance of different morphotypes changed markedly within the chemocline. The constant overall cell counts thus concealed pronounced population shifts within the water column. Cells stained with a delta 385 probe (presumably sulfate-reducing bacteria) were detected at the chemocline at about 5 x 10(4) cells per ml, and this concentration increased to 2 x 10(5) cells per ml beneath the chemocline. A long slim rod-shaped bacterium was found in large numbers in the oxic part of the chemocline, whereas large ellipsoid cells dominated at greater depth. Application of selective probes for known genera of sulfate-reducing bacteria gave only low cell counts, and thus it was not possible to identify the dominant morphotypes of the sulfate-reducing community.

An efficient quantitative technique for the simultaneous analyses of radon daughters (210)Pb, (210)Bi and (210)Po.

An improved and time efficient technique has been developed for quantitative determination of the long-lived (222)Rn daughters ((210)Pb, (210)Po and (210)Bi) in atmospheric and oceanic samples. The sample is first spiked with yield tracers for polonium (208 or 209), bismuth (207), and lead (stable lead carrier). These nuclides may then be scavenged through iron hydroxide precipitation and redissolved in a dilute (pH approximately 2) nitric acid plating medium with citrate and hydroxylamine hydrochloride at 90 degrees centrigrade with constant stirring. First a silver planchet is suspended in the solution which plates polonium to high efficiency. Second, a nickel planchet is suspended in the same solution which is maintained hermetic (e.g. bubbling with helium) and bismuth is plated next with high efficiency. Third, lead is purified from the same solution using anion exchange techniques and isolated for beta counting as the sulfate. Polonium is analyzed by isotope dilution alpha spectrometry. Bismuth and lead are analyzed by anti-coincident beta counting in a low level shield. In the case of bismuth, the 207 tracer is added in quantities at least comparable to the background of the beta system such that counting before and after the decay of (210)Bi gives the bismuth yield. The unique characteristics of this technique are its speed and efficiency; all three radon daughters can be isolated for counting within 4 hr of pre-treating the sample. The remaining solution can be treated subsequently for other analyses as appropriate.

Metal dynamics in Lake Vanda (Wright Valley, Antarctica).

Data are reported for Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Cd in the Onyx River, and for Mn, Co, Ni, Cu and Cd in Lake Vanda, a closed-basin Antarctic lake. Oxic water concentrations for Co, Ni, Cu and Cd were quite low and approximate pelagic ocean values. Scavenging of these metals by sinking particles is strongly indicated. Deep-lake profiles reveal a sharp peak in the concentrations of Mn, Fe and Co at the oxic-anoxic boundary at 60 m. Maxima for Ni, Cu and Cd occur higher in the water column, in the vicinity of a Mn submaximum, suggesting early release of these metals from sinking manganese oxide-coated particles. A rough steady-state model leads to the conclusion that there is a large downward flux of Mn into the deep lake and that this flux is sufficient to explain the annual loss of Co, Ni, Cu and Cd. A pronounced geochemical separation between Fe and Mn apparently occurs in this system--Fe being best lost in near-shore environments and Mn being lost in deeper waters. Comparison of metal residence times in Lake Vanda with those in the oceans shows that in both systems Mn, Fe and Co are much more reactive than Ni, Cu and Cd. Energetically favorable inclusion of the more highly charged metals, Mn(IV), Fe(III) and Co(III), into oxide-based lattices is a plausible explanation.