Genome-resolved correlation mapping links microbial community structure to metabolic interactions driving methane production from wastewater.

Anaerobic digestion of municipal mixed sludge produces methane that can be converted into renewable natural gas. To improve economics of this microbial mediated process, metabolic interactions catalyzing biomass conversion to energy need to be identified. Here, we present a two-year time series associating microbial metabolism and physicochemistry in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant.

Hydro-biogeochemical impacts of fugitive methane on a shallow unconfined aquifer.

Oil and gas development can result in natural gas migration into shallow groundwater. Methane (CH), the primary component of natural gas, can subsequently react with solutes and minerals in the aquifer to create byproducts that affect groundwater chemistry. Hydro-biogeochemical processes induced by fugitive gas from leaky oil and gas wells are currently not well understood.

Recovering cellular biomass from fluids using chemical flocculation.

We developed an efficient, scalable and inexpensive method for recovering cellular biomass from complex fluid matrices that cannot be processed using conventional filtration methods. The method uses chemical flocculation with iron oxyhydroxides, is capable of recovering greater than 90% of cellular biomass from fluids with more than 10 cells ml , and was validated using both mock communities and field samples. High quality DNA can be readily extracted from iron flocs using standard soil extraction kits.

Hydrogen, acetate, and lactate as electron donors for microbial manganese reduction in a manganese-rich coastal marine sediment.

The role of hydrogen, acetate, and lactate as electron donors for microbial manganese reduction was investigated in manganese-rich marine sediment from Gullmar Fjord (Sweden). Here, manganese reduction accounted for 50% of the anaerobic carbon oxidation at 0-15 cm sediment depth. In anoxic incubations from 0 to 5 cm depth, where manganese reduction dominated completely as terminal electron-accepting process, the combined contribution of acetate and lactate as electron donors for manganese reducers corresponded to < ¼ of the electron flow.

Competition for inorganic carbon between oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophs in a hypersaline microbial mat, Guerrero Negro, Mexico.

While most oxygenic phototrophs harvest light only in the visible range (400-700 nm, VIS), anoxygenic phototrophs can harvest near infrared light (> 700 nm, NIR). To study interactions between the photosynthetic guilds we used microsensors to measure oxygen and gross oxygenic photosynthesis (gOP) in a hypersaline microbial mat under full (VIS + NIR) and VIS illumination. Under normal dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations (2 mM), volumetric rates of gOP were reduced up to 65% and areal rates by 16-31% at full compared with VIS illumination.

Three manganese oxide-rich marine sediments harbor similar communities of acetate-oxidizing manganese-reducing bacteria.

Dissimilatory manganese reduction dominates anaerobic carbon oxidation in marine sediments with high manganese oxide concentrations, but the microorganisms responsible for this process are largely unknown. In this study, the acetate-utilizing manganese-reducing microbiota in geographically well-separated, manganese oxide-rich sediments from Gullmar Fjord (Sweden), Skagerrak (Norway) and Ulleung Basin (Korea) were analyzed by 16S rRNA-stable isotope probing (SIP). Manganese reduction was the prevailing terminal electron-accepting process in anoxic incubations of surface sediments, and even the addition of acetate stimulated neither iron nor sulfate reduction.

Response of fermentation and sulfate reduction to experimental temperature changes in temperate and Arctic marine sediments.

Anaerobic degradation of organic material generally proceeds through a sequence of steps, including polymer hydrolysis, fermentation and respiration or methanogenesis. The intermediates, such as volatile fatty acids (VFA) or H(2), are generally maintained at low concentration, showing a close coupling of the terminal oxidation to fermentation. We exposed marine sediments to extreme temperature perturbations to study the nature and robustness of this coupling.

Effects of deposition of heavy-metal-polluted harbor mud on microbial diversity and metal resistance in sandy marine sediments.

Deposition of dredged harbor sediments in relatively undisturbed ecosystems is often considered a viable option for confinement of pollutants and possible natural attenuation. This study investigated the effects of deposition of heavy-metal-polluted sludge on the microbial diversity of sandy sediments during 12 months of mesocosm incubation. Geochemical analyses showed an initial increase in pore-water metal concentrations, which subsided after 3 months of incubation.

Hydrogen 'leakage' during methanogenesis from methanol and methylamine: implications for anaerobic carbon degradation pathways in aquatic sediments.

The effect of variations in H2 concentrations on methanogenesis from the non-competitive substrates methanol and methylamine (used by methanogens but not by sulfate reducers) was investigated in methanogenic marine sediments. Imposed variations in sulfate concentration and temperature were used to drive systematic variations in pore water H2 concentrations. Specifically, increasing sulfate concentrations and decreasing temperatures both resulted in decreasing H2 concentrations.

Acetate, lactate, propionate, and isobutyrate as electron donors for iron and sulfate reduction in Arctic marine sediments, Svalbard.

The contribution of volatile fatty acids (VFA) as e(-)-donors for anaerobic terminal oxidation of organic carbon through iron and sulfate reduction was studied in Arctic fjord sediment. Dissolved inorganic carbon, Fe(2+), VFA concentrations, and sulfate reduction were monitored in slurries from the oxidized (0-2 cm) and the reduced (5-9 cm) zone. In the 0-2 cm layer, 2/3 of the mineralization could be attributed to sulfate reduction and 1/3 to iron reduction.

Structural and functional analysis of a microbial mat ecosystem from a unique permanent hypersaline inland lake: 'La Salada de Chiprana' (NE Spain).

The benthic microbial mat community of the only permanent hypersaline natural inland lake of Western Europe, 'La Salada de Chiprana', northeastern Spain, was structurally and functionally analyzed. The ionic composition of the lake water is characterized by high concentrations of magnesium and sulfate, which were respectively 0.35 and 0.