Quantification of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and factors controlling nitrification in salt marsh sediments.

To elucidate the geomicrobiological factors controlling nitrification in salt marsh sediments, a comprehensive approach involving sediment geochemistry, process rate measurements, and quantification of the genetic potential for nitrification was applied to three contrasting salt marsh habitats: areas colonized by the tall (TS) or short (SS) form of Spartina alterniflora and unvegetated creek banks (CBs). Nitrification and denitrification potential rates were strongly correlated with one another and with macrofaunal burrow abundance, indicating that coupled nitrification-denitrification was enhanced by macrofaunal burrowing activity. Ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) gene copy numbers were used to estimate the ammonia-oxidizing bacterial population size (5.

Change in bacterial community structure during in situ biostimulation of subsurface sediment cocontaminated with uranium and nitrate.

Previous studies have demonstrated that metal-reducing microorganisms can effectively promote the precipitation and removal of uranium from contaminated groundwater. Microbial communities were stimulated in the acidic subsurface by pH neutralization and addition of an electron donor to wells. In single-well push-pull tests at a number of treated sites, nitrate, Fe(III), and uranium were extensively reduced and electron donors (glucose, ethanol) were consumed.

Enumeration and characterization of iron(III)-reducing microbial communities from acidic subsurface sediments contaminated with uranium(VI).

Iron(III)-reducing bacteria have been demonstrated to rapidly catalyze the reduction and immobilization of uranium(VI) from contaminated subsurface sediments. Thus, these organisms may aid in the development of bioremediation strategies for uranium contamination, which is prevalent in acidic subsurface sediments at U.S.

Competitive and interactions affecting a fermentative spirochete in anaerobic chemostats.

Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and fluorescent in situ hybridization revealed that spirochete-related populations dominated two glucose-fed methanogenic bioreactor communities at dilution rates of 0.06, 0.13, and 0.

Growth of iron(III)-reducing bacteria on clay minerals as the sole electron acceptor and comparison of growth yields on a variety of oxidized iron forms.

Smectite clay minerals are abundant in soils and sediments worldwide and are typically rich in Fe. While recent investigations have shown that the structural Fe(III) bound in clay minerals is reduced by microorganisms, previous studies have not tested growth with clay minerals as the sole electron acceptor. Here we have demonstrated that a pure culture of Shewanella oneidensis strain MR-1 as well as enrichment cultures of Fe(III)-reducing bacteria from rice paddy soil and subsurface sediments are capable of conserving energy for growth with the structural Fe(III) bound in smectite clay as the sole electron acceptor.