Dataset Information

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

ABSTRACT: 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. Examination of sediment chemistry in cores sampled immediately adjacent to treated wells 3.5 months after treatment revealed that sediment pH increased substantially (by 1 to 2 pH units) while nitrate was largely depleted. A large diversity of 16S rRNA gene sequences were retrieved from subsurface sediments, including species from the alpha, beta, delta, and gamma subdivisions of the class Proteobacteria, as well as low- and high-G+C gram-positive species. Following in situ biostimulation of microbial communities within contaminated sediments, sequences related to previously cultured metal-reducing delta-Proteobacteria increased from 5% to nearly 40% of the clone libraries. Quantitative PCR revealed that Geobacter-type 16S rRNA gene sequences increased in biostimulated sediments by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude at two of the four sites tested. Evidence from the quantitative PCR analysis corroborated information obtained from 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, indicating that members of the delta-Proteobacteria subdivision, including Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans-related and Geobacter-related sequences, are important metal-reducing organisms in acidic subsurface sediments. This study provides the first cultivation-independent analysis of the change in metal-reducing microbial communities in subsurface sediments during an in situ bioremediation experiment.

SUBMITTER: North NN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC492330 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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

North Nadia N NN Dollhopf Sherry L SL Petrie Lainie L Istok Jonathan D JD Balkwill David L DL Kostka Joel E JE

Applied and environmental microbiology 20040801 8

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. Examination of sediment chemistry in ...[more]

PMID: 15294831

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Project description:Although bacterial anaerobic degradation of mono-aromatic compounds has been characterized in depth, the degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as naphthalene has only started to be understood in sulfate reducing bacteria, and little is known about the anaerobic degradation of PAHs in nitrate reducing bacteria. Starting from a series of environments which had suffered different degrees of hydrocarbon pollution, we used most probable number (MPN) enumeration to detect and quantify the presence of bacterial communities able to degrade several PAHs using nitrate as electron acceptor. We detected the presence of a substantial nitrate reducing community able to degrade naphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene (2MN), and anthracene in some of the sites. With the aim of isolating strains able to degrade PAHs under denitrifying conditions, we set up a series of enrichment cultures with nitrate as terminal electron acceptor and PAHs as the only carbon source and followed the changes in the bacterial communities throughout the process. Results evidenced changes attributable to the imposed nitrate respiration regime, which in several samples were exacerbated in the presence of the PAHs. The presence of naphthalene or 2MN enriched the community in groups of uncultured and poorly characterized organisms, and notably in the Acidobacteria uncultured group iii1-8, which in some cases was only a minor component of the initial samples. Other phylotypes selected by PAHs in these conditions included Bacilli, which were enriched in naphthalene enrichments. Several nitrate reducing strains showing the capacity to grow on PAHs could be isolated on solid media, although the phenotype could not be reproduced in liquid cultures. Analysis of known PAH anaerobic degradation genes in the original samples and enrichment cultures did not reveal the presence of PAH-related nmsA-like sequences but confirmed the presence of bssA-like genes related to anaerobic toluene degradation. Altogether, our results suggest that PAH degradation by nitrate reducing bacteria may require the contribution of different strains, under culture conditions that still need to be defined.

Dataset Information

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

Publications

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

Similar Datasets

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