Aquifer community structure in dependence of lithostratigraphy in groundwater reservoirs.

Groundwater microbiology with respect to different host rocks offers new possibilities to describe and map the habitat harboring approximately half of Earths' biomass. The Thuringian Basin (Germany) contains formations of the Permian (Zechstein) and Triassic (Muschelkalk and Buntsandstein) with outcrops and deeper regions at the border and central part. Hydro(geo)chemistry and bacterial community structure of 11 natural springs and 20 groundwater wells were analyzed to define typical patterns for each formation. Widespread were Gammaproteobacteria, while Bacilli were present in all wells. Halotolerant and halophilic taxa were present in Zechstein. The occurrence of specific taxa allowed a clear separation of communities from all three lithostratigraphic groups. These specific taxa could be used to follow fluid movement, e.g., from the underlying Zechstein or from nearby saline reservoirs into Buntsandstein aquifers. Thus, we developed a new tool to identify the lithostratigraphic origin of sources in mixed waters. This was verified with entry of surface water, as species not present in the underground Zechstein environments were isolated from the water samples. Thus, our tool shows a higher resolution as compared to hydrochemistry, which is prone to undergo fast dilution if water mixes with other aquifers. Furthermore, the bacteria well adapted to their respective environment showed geographic clustering allowing to differentiate regional aquifers.

Microbially assisted phytoremediation approaches for two multi-element contaminated sites.

Phytoremediation is an environmental friendly, cost-effective technology for a soft restoration of abandoned mine sites. The grasses Agrostis capillaris, Deschampsia flexuosa and Festuca rubra, and the annual herb Helianthus annuus were combined with microbial consortia in pot experiments on multi-metal polluted substrates collected at a former uranium mine near Ronneburg, Germany, and a historic copper mine in Kopparberg, Sweden, to test for phytoextraction versus phytostabilization abilities. Metal uptake into plant biomass was evaluated to identify optimal plant-microbe combinations for each substrate. Metal bioavailability was found to be plant species and element specific, and influenced by the applied bacterial consortia of 10 strains, each isolated from the same soil to which it was applied. H. annuus showed high extraction capacity for several metals on the German soil independent of inoculation. Our study could also show a significant enhancement of extraction for F. rubra and A. capillaris when combined with the bacterial consortium, although usually grasses are considered metal excluder species. On the Swedish mixed substrate, due to its toxicity, with 30 % bark compost, A. capillaris inoculated with the respective consortium was able to extract multi-metal contaminants.