Polysulfides as Intermediates in the Oxidation of Sulfide to Sulfate by Beggiatoa spp

Berg, Jerry S. Vande; Schwedt, Anne; Kreutzmann, Anne-Christin; Kuypers, Marcel M. M.; Milucka, Jana

doi:10.1128/aem.02852-13

Cited by 107 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Beggiatoa alba is a sulphuroxidising bacterium with colourless filaments and formed a white, translucent to opaque layer at 0.8-1.0 cm depth, and also appeared to colonise fragments of plant debris in the mat. Beggiatoa is typical of habitats with a high level of H 2 S, which is used as an energy source, forming intracellular S droplets which are reduced to S 2-under short-term anaerobic conditions (Schmidt et al, 1987;Berg et al, 2014). This quite thick (10-150 µm diameter) filamentous bacterium was surrounded by mucilage or extracellular polysaccharide (EPS).…”

Section: Microbiology and Palynologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemistry of intertidal microbial mats from Qatar: New insights from organic matter characterisation

Słowakiewicz

Whitaker

Thomas

et al. 2016

Organic Geochemistry

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General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms AbstractUnderstanding early organic matter alteration and preservation in marine carbonate-evaporite systems could improve understanding of carbon cycling and hydrocarbon source rock prediction in such environments. It is possible that organic-rich microbial mats are important contributors to preserved hydrocarbons, and to explore this we examined changes in lipid composition in such a mat from a mesohaline intertidal lagoon, eastern Qatar. The mat reaches > 5 cm thickness over a carbonate mud substrate, rich in seagrass, gastropods and other small bioclasts. Clear lamination, with distinct downward colour changes from green to pink to brown, reflects different microbial mat communities. The layers contain spheroids of probable dolomite, the precipitation of which was plausibly bacterially-mediated. Lipids [n-alkanes, fatty acids (FAs), hopanoids, isoprenoid hydrocarbons, dialkyl glycerol diethers (DAGEs), and isoprenoid (0 to 4) and branched (Ia to IIIa) GDGTs] reflect the diverse mat-building phototrophic, heterotrophic and chemoorganotrophic microorganisms, as well as some likely allochthonous material (i.e. steroids, n-alkanols, high molecular weight nalkanes). The lipids clearly document the change in microbial community, with phytene being the predominant hydrocarbon in the phototrophic surface layer. Oxygen and pH drop significantly 0.2 cm below the mat surface, coincident with the predominance of Deltaproteobacteria and increased concentrations of archaeal and bacterial glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids andC 15 /C 16 and C 16 /C 17 dialkyl glycerol ether lipids in the deeper layers. Archaeol, likely of methanogen origin, is most abundant in the deepest layer. Allochthonous inputs occur throughout the mat, including abundant steroids, especially dinosterol and dinostanol, that are possibly related to periodic algal (dinoflagellate) blooms in the Arabian Gulf. Both n-alkanes and n-alkanols appear to be derived from seagrass. Organic matter contents decrease in the deepest mat; this suggests an overall low preservation potential of OM in intertidal mesohaline-hypersaline mats of the Arabian Gulf, which in turn suggests that these are not the major source of hydrocarbons in microbially-dominated carbonateevaporite systems.2

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Section: Microbiology and Palynologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemistry of intertidal microbial mats from Qatar: New insights from organic matter characterisation

Słowakiewicz

Whitaker

Thomas

et al. 2016

Organic Geochemistry

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“…In rare cases, a broad band at ~470 cm -1 was observed (Fig. 3), which is best explained by the presence of polysulfide (S n 2-) that shows similar bands in the 440 and 480 cm -1 wavelength region (main at 470 cm -1 ; Berg et al, 2014).…”

Section: Gypsum Filamentous Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Raman data indicate that this sulfur is extremely fine grained and arranged in a stable S8 ring configuration (Pasteris et al, 2001). Polysulfide, possibly derived from the transformation of cyclooctosulfur, was reported in some Beggiatoa cultures (Berg et al, 2014). Therefore, the presence of polysulfide in the Messinian filaments is of interest; it may represent a remnant of elemental sulfur stored by the bacteria.…”

Section: Nature Of the Filamentous Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although no isolated elemental sulfur was detected, we observed aggregates of microcrystalline pyrite and associated polysulfide. The chemical nature of the sulfur stored by modern prokaryotes is controversial (see Berg et al, 2014). Raman data indicate that this sulfur is extremely fine grained and arranged in a stable S8 ring configuration (Pasteris et al, 2001).…”

Section: Nature Of the Filamentous Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are the large filamentous microfossils preserved in Messinian gypsum colorless sulfide-oxidizing bacteria?

Pierre¹,

Natalicchio²,

Ferrando³

et al. 2015

Geology

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The thick gypsum deposits formed in the Mediterranean Basin during the Messinian salinity crisis incorporate dense mazes of filamentous fossils, which were interpreted as algae or cyanobacteria, thus pointing to a shallow-marine subtidal or intertidal environment. The data presented here reveal that these filaments represent remains of colorless, vacuolated sulfide-oxidizing bacteria. This interpretation is supported by the presence of small crystal aggregates of iron sulfide (pyrite) and associated polysulfide within the filamentous fossils. Pyrite and polysulfide are considered to result from early diagenetic transformation of original zero-valent sulfur globules stored within the cells, which is a clade-diagnostic feature of living and degraded sulfur bacteria. In addition to filamentous fossils, the studied gypsum crystals contain remains of euryhaline and stenohaline diatoms and clay-rich aggregates interpreted as alteration products of marine snow floccules. This peculiar fossil assemblage reflects conditions of increased productivity in the water column, triggered by high fluxes of nutrients into the basin during phases of enhanced riverine runoff and freshwater discharge. This study confirms that gypsum evaporites have great potential to preserve the early stages of the taphonomic alteration of bacterial cells, shedding light on the paleoecology of ancient hypersaline environments.

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“…In addition to this completely abiotic mechanism, this process may be partly biologically-mediated. Polysulfide has been shown to be produced during sulfur oxidation by Beggiatoa sp (Berg et al, 2014) and has been implicated in the reaction mechanism of sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (Griesbeck et al, 2002), which is thought to be used by some Epsilonproteobacteria to oxidize sulfide (Yamamoto and Takai, 2011). In this biologically-mediated process, elemental sulfur produced by microbes during oxidation of sulfide presumably reacts with surrounding sulfide molecules, thereby consuming more sulfide without requiring any extra respiratory electron acceptor to be present.…”

Section: Biogeochemistry Of Sulfur and Nitrogenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity, metabolism and physiology of free-living chemoautotrophic Epsilonproteobacteria

McNichol¹

2016

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Chemoautotrophic ecosystems at deep-sea hydrothermal vents were discovered in 1977, but not until 1995 were free-living autotrophic Epsilonproteobacteria identified as important microbial community members. Because the deep-sea is food-starved, the autotrophic metabolism of hydrothermal vent Epsilonproteobacteria may be very important for deep-sea consumers. However, quantifying their metabolic activities in situ has remained difficult, and biochemical mechanisms underlying their autotrophic physiology are poorly described. To gain insight into environmental processes, an approach was developed for incubations of microbes at in situ pressure and temperature (25 MPa, 24 o C) with various combinations of electron donors/acceptors (H 2 , O 2 and NO 3 -and 13 HCO 3 -) as a tracer to track carbon fixation. During short (18-24 h) incubations of low-temperature vent fluids from Crab Spa (9 o N East Pacific Rise), the concentration of electron donors/acceptors and cell numbers were monitored to quantify microbial processes. Measured rates were generally higher than previous studies, and the stoichiometry of microbially-catalyzed redox reactions revealed new insights into sulfur and nitrogen cycling. Single-cell, taxonomically-resolved tracer incorporation showed Epsilonproteobacteria dominated carbon fixation, and their growth efficiency was calculated based on electron acceptor consumption. Using these data, in situ primary productivity, microbial standing stock, and average biomass residence time of the deep-sea vent subseafloor biosphere were estimated. Finally, the population structures of the most abundant genera Sulfurimonas and Thioreductor were shown to be strongly influenced by pO 2 and temperature respectively, providing a mechanism for niche differentiation in situ. To gain insights into the core biochemical reactions underlying autotrophy in Epsilonprotebacteria, a theoretical metabolic model of Sulfurimonas denitrificans was developed. Validated iteratively by comparing in silico yields with data from chemostat experiments, the model generated hypotheses explaining critical, yet so far unresolved reactions supporting chemoautotrophy in Epsilonproteobacteria. For example, it provides insight into how energy is conserved during sulfur oxidation coupled to denitrification, how reverse electron transport produces ferredoxin for carbon fixation, and why aerobic growth yields are only slightly higher compared to denitrification. As a whole, this thesis provides important contributions towards understanding core mechanisms of chemoautrophy, as well as the in situ productivity, physiology and ecology of autotrophic Epsilonproteobacteria.

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Polysulfides as Intermediates in the Oxidation of Sulfide to Sulfate by Beggiatoa spp

Cited by 107 publications

References 44 publications

Biogeochemistry of intertidal microbial mats from Qatar: New insights from organic matter characterisation

Biogeochemistry of intertidal microbial mats from Qatar: New insights from organic matter characterisation

Are the large filamentous microfossils preserved in Messinian gypsum colorless sulfide-oxidizing bacteria?

Productivity, metabolism and physiology of free-living chemoautotrophic Epsilonproteobacteria

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