Chemoautotrophic Microbial Mats in Submarine Caves with Hydrothermal Sulphidic Springs at Cape Palinuro, Italy

Mattison, Richard G.; Abbiati, Marco; Dando, P. R.; Fitzsimons, Mark F.; Pratt, S.M.; Southward, A. J.; Southward, Eve C.

doi:10.1007/s002489900060

Cited by 50 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Specifically, the highest estimated rate of chemolithoautotrophic productivity from our study was Movile Cave (281 g C/m 2 /yr). This rate is comparable to those estimated from sulfidic springs at Cape Palinuro, Italy (378 g C/ m 2 /yr) (Mattison et al, 1998), as well as the hyporheic zone of Sycamore Creek, Arizona (333 g C/m 2 /yr) (Jones et al, 1994), and autotrophic productivity estimates from open oceans, continental shelves, and upwelling zones, as well as lakes and streams (Lieth, 1972;Kirchman et al, 1993).…”

Section: Productivity In Chemolithoautotrophic Subterranean Microbialsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…There have been relatively few studies delineating energy flow in cave and karst systems (e.g., Brown et al, 1994;Simon et al, 2001;Simon & Benfield, 2002;Simon et al, 2007), and even fewer investigations of ecosystem energetics from solely chemolithoautotrophically-based cave and karst ecosystems (e.g., Mattison et al, 1998;Porter, 1999). Most of the ecosystem studies from chemolithoautotrophic karst systems have been done using stable isotope ratio systematics for the purpose of delineating trophic relationships within the food web (e.g., Sarbu et al, 1996;Sarbu et al, 2000;Megan L. Porter, Annette Summers Engel, Thomas C. Kane, Brian K. Kinkle Vlasceanu et al, 2000;Engel, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Productivity-diversity relationships from chemolithoautotrophically based sulfidic karst systems

Porter¹,

Engel²,

Kane³

et al. 2009

IJS

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Section: Productivity In Chemolithoautotrophic Subterranean Microbialsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity-diversity relationships from chemolithoautotrophically based sulfidic karst systems

Porter¹,

Engel²,

Kane³

et al. 2009

IJS

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“…are large, filamentous, gliding, colorless sulfur bacteria and are known to occur worldwide in diverse habitats with a wide range of salinities. They form visible white mats on the surfaces of organic-rich freshwater sediments (39,46,63,64) and in sulfur springs (36), marine caves (37), marine eutrophic coastal zones (22,58,59), upwelling regions (7,15), whale falls (11), cold seeps (10,43,48), and gas seeps (4,28). These filamentous bacteria migrate in daily cycles in microbial mats (16,23,67).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological Adaptation of a Nitrate-Storing Beggiatoa sp. to Diel Cycling in a Phototrophic Hypersaline Mat

Hinck

Neu

Lavik

et al. 2007

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The aim of this study was to investigate the supposed vertical diel migration and the accompanying physiology of Beggiatoa bacteria from hypersaline microbial mats. We combined microsensor, stable-isotope, and molecular techniques to clarify the phylogeny and physiology of the most dominant species inhabiting mats of the natural hypersaline Lake Chiprana, Spain. The most dominant morphotype had a filament diameter of 6 to 8 m and a length varying from 1 to >10 mm. Phylogenetic analysis by 16S rRNA gene comparison revealed that this type appeared to be most closely related (91% sequence identity) to the narrow (4-m diameter) nonvacuolated marine strain MS-81-6. Stable-isotope analysis showed that the Lake Chiprana species could store nitrate intracellularly to 40 mM. The presence of large intracellular vacuoles was confirmed by fluorescein isothiocyanate staining and subsequent confocal microscopy. In illuminated mats, their highest abundance was found at a depth of 8 mm, where oxygen and sulfide co-occurred. However, in the dark, the highest Beggiatoa densities occurred at 7 mm, and the whole population was present in the anoxic zone of the mat. Our findings suggest that hypersaline Beggiatoa bacteria oxidize sulfide with oxygen under light conditions and with internally stored nitrate under dark conditions. It was concluded that nitrate storage by Beggiatoa is an optimal strategy to both occupy the suboxic zones in sulfidic sediments and survive the dark periods in phototrophic mats.Beggiatoa spp. are large, filamentous, gliding, colorless sulfur bacteria and are known to occur worldwide in diverse habitats with a wide range of salinities. They form visible white mats on the surfaces of organic-rich freshwater sediments (39,46,63,64) and in sulfur springs (36), marine caves (37), marine eutrophic coastal zones (22,58,59), upwelling regions (7, 15), whale falls (11), cold seeps (10, 43, 48), and gas seeps (4, 28). These filamentous bacteria migrate in daily cycles in microbial mats (16,23,67). Microbial mats are dense, cohesive communities with a visible laminated pattern due to the zonation of different metabolic groups with different pigmentations. Within a few millimeters of the upper mat, steep physicochemical gradients occur due to high metabolic activities of the densely packed microorganisms. The main functional groups are cyanobacteria, purple sulfur bacteria, colorless sulfur bacteria, and sulfate-reducing bacteria (67). Most mats are characterized by a microbiologically controlled rapid sulfur cycle. In phototrophic mats, oxygenic photosynthesis and dissimilatory sulfate reduction result in opposing gradients of oxygen and sulfide, which sometimes overlap in a narrow transition zone. The sulfide and oxygen distributions underlie diel cycles (54), which induce migratory behavior of phototrophic and nonphototrophic organisms (8,55). Gliding motility and a tactile response to diverse parameters, e.g., light, oxygen, and sulfide (41,44,45), enable Beggiatoa spp. to follow the movement of the dynamic transi...

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“…Hypogenic cave communities, devoid of any light and based on energy produced by chemoautotrophs, have been described in environments ranging from submarine caves in Italy to large caverns in Mexico (Bottrell et al 1991;Hose et al 2000;Mattison et al 1998;Sarbu et al 1996;Vlasceanu et al 2000). In each cave, microbial mats were observed in areas with high hydrogen sulfide concentrations, and sulfide oxidation to elemental sulfur or to sulfate is the energy source for carbon fixation into biomass.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In each cave, microbial mats were observed in areas with high hydrogen sulfide concentrations, and sulfide oxidation to elemental sulfur or to sulfate is the energy source for carbon fixation into biomass. Mats of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria can occur along the water-atmosphere interface in cave pools and streams (e.g., Hubbard et al 1986) or, more commonly, at the interface between the cave conduit and the limestone cave walls where sulfide-rich groundwater seeps through the bedrock (Mattison et al 1998). The biogeochemical reactions carried out by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria could have a significant effect on limestone dissolution and cave enlargement (Engel & Randall, 2011;Hose et al 2000;Macalady et al 2006;Sarbu et al 1996;Vlasceanu et al 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Control on Acid Generation at the Conduit-Bedrock Boundary in Submerged Caves: Quantification through Geochemical Modeling

Herman

Hounshell

Franklin

et al. 2013

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klin & Aaron L. Mills: Vpliv bioloških procesov na izvor ki slin ob meji med kraškim prevodnikom in matično kamnino v zaliti coni: kvantitativna ocena na osnovi geokemičnega modeliranja Jama No-mount je zalita sladkovodna jama v državnem parku wekiva Springs, Florida, ZDA. Skozi jamo se proti površju pretaka voda iz Zgornjega Floridskega apnenčastega vodonosnika eocenske starosti. V afotičnem okolju jame so kolonije oksidirajočih bakterij v obliki vlaknastih skupkov. Na osnovi terenskih, laboratorijskih in modelskih raziskav smo ocenjevali možen speleogenetski pomen bakterijske oksidacije sulfidov. Ocenjevali smo raztapljanje kalcita v različnih scenarijih mešanja vode iz apnenčaste matrice in jamske vode ob prisotnosti oksidacije sulfida. Pri geokemičnem modeliranju smo uporabili modul reakcijskih poti v modelskem okolju PHREEqCI, kot vhodni podatek modela smo vzeli sestavo vode iz matrice in jamskega rova. Za vzorčenje vode v matrici apnenca smo v okviru te raziskave razvili nov vzorčevalnik. Laboratorijske raziskave so temeljile na pretočnem reaktorju, pri čemer smo v reaktorskem stolpcu uporabili zdrobljen apnenec z mesta raziskav in v njem mešali laboratorijske replike vode porozne matrice obogatene s sulfidom in jamske vode z dodanim kisikom. Ob odsotnosti biološke aktivnosti ni bilo raztapljanja ob mešanje matrične in jamske vode. Do občutnega raztaplja nja pa je prišlo ob dovajanju protonov, ki se sprostijo pri biološki pretvorbi v vodi raztopljenih žveplovih spojin. Iz širšega spektra rezultatov smo izluščili relevantno vrednost. Ocenili smo, da se v jamsko vodo sprosti 158 mg kalcija na vsak liter vode, ki iz porozne matrice preide v jamski rov in se meša z jamsko No-mount Cave, located in wekiwa Springs State Park in central Florida, USA, is an aphotic, submerged, freshwater cave in which large colonies of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria live in filamentous microbial mats. Upwardly discharging groundwater enters the cave from the Upper Floridan aquifer, specifically the Eocene-aged Ocala Limestone. we undertook a combined field, laboratory, and modeling study in which we sought to determine the amount of calcite dissolution attributable to the generation of protons by microbially mediated sulfide oxidation. The chemical compositions of groundwater within the limestone formation collected through a newly designed sampling device and of water in the cave conduit were used in geochemical modeling. we used the reaction-path model PHREEqCI to quantify the amount of calcite dissolution expected under various plausible scenarios for mixing of formation water with conduit water and extent of bacterial sulfide oxidation. Laboratory experiments were conducted using flow-through columns packed with crushed limestone from the study site. Replicate columns were eluted with artificial groundwater containing dissolved HS -in the absence of microbial growth. without biologically mediated sulfide oxidation, no measurable calcite dissolution occurred in laboratory experiments and no additional amount of speleogenesis is expe...

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Chemoautotrophic Microbial Mats in Submarine Caves with Hydrothermal Sulphidic Springs at Cape Palinuro, Italy

Cited by 50 publications

References 27 publications

Productivity-diversity relationships from chemolithoautotrophically based sulfidic karst systems

Productivity-diversity relationships from chemolithoautotrophically based sulfidic karst systems

Physiological Adaptation of a Nitrate-Storing Beggiatoa sp. to Diel Cycling in a Phototrophic Hypersaline Mat

Biological Control on Acid Generation at the Conduit-Bedrock Boundary in Submerged Caves: Quantification through Geochemical Modeling

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