Life on the edge: active microbial communities in the Kryos MgCl2-brine basin at very low water activity

Steinle, Lea; Knittel, Katrin; Felber, Nicole; Casalino, Claudia E.; Lange, Gert J. de; Tessarolo, Chiara; Stadnitskaia, Alina; Damsté, Jaap S. Sinninghe; Zopfi, Jakob; Lehmann, Moritz F.; Treude, Tina; Niemann, Helge

doi:10.1038/s41396-018-0107-z

Cited by 45 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 96 publications

(163 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The reduction in water availability in hypersaline environments represents a fundamental stress for cellular systems (Hallsworth et al, ). The lowest a w value for growth recorded to date is 0.4 (Steinle et al, ). In this study, we observed that natural brine displayed values of a w of 0.74.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Communities From the World's Largest Lithium Reserve, Salar de Atacama, Chile: Life at High LiCl Concentrations

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Salar de Atacama is one of the largest global reservoirs of natural lithium brines (mean lithium concentration = 1,500 ppm), enabling Chile to be a leading producer of lithium products. This large salar (3,000 km 2 ), located in the Atacama Desert at 2,300 m above sea level, is dominated by microorganisms; however, little is known about the microbes present in the brines associated with this economically important mining process. Here we study lithium as a modulator of microbial richness and diversity in brines representing natural conditions (34.7% salinity) and conditions prior to lithium production with a concentrated brine (55.6% salinity). Brines only supported a single archaeal family (Halobacteriaceae): natural brines included the archaeal genera Halovenus, Natronomonas, Haloarcula, and Halobacterium. Concentrated brines included the archaeal genera Halovenus, Halobacterium, and Halococcus. The most abundant bacterial families in natural brine were Rhodothermaceae and Staphylococcaceae; Xanthomonadaceae dominated the bacterial community in the concentrated brine. A comparison of entire microbial community (Archaea and Bacteria) revealed that only seven operational taxonomic units were shared between samples, all of which were Archaea. Further, our results showed that Bacteria were phylogenetically more diverse and rich in the concentrated brine, while archaeal diversity was maximized in the natural brine. The concentrated lithium brines of the Salar de Atacama represent one of the most saline environments described to date (dominated by LiCl). We suggest that elevated concentrations of lithium could greatly modulate microbial diversity and give insights into the adaptive biology of microorganisms required to cope with extremely high concentrations of salts that extend beyond that of NaCl, a far more commonly studied salt.Plain Language Summary Lithium is a main component of many of the batteries that we rely on for our daily use. In the last years, nearly 40% of all lithium obtained globally was from a single fragile salt-lake ecosystem: Salar de Atacama in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. This salar has extremely saline waters called brines (dominated by NaCl, aka table salt), which are naturally highly concentrated in lithium and concentrated in evaporation ponds. In total, concentrated brines has a salinity of 55.6% (ocean salinity = 0.3%), representing one of the most saline environments described on Earth to date (dominated by lithium chloride). Our research has shown that concentrated brines support life and are dominated by hundreds of species of microorganisms. Due to saline stress these "extremophiles" have developed very special (and previously undescribed) strategies to survive in this lithium soup. These results have implications beyond Earth: they have marked implications for our understanding for the potential for life on Mars, where liquid water is known to occur as brine. Although lithium production has clear economic importance, our results show that we should consider how we will pre...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Communities From the World's Largest Lithium Reserve, Salar de Atacama, Chile: Life at High LiCl Concentrations

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Lipid biomarkers were extracted and analyzed according to previously reported protocols (Elvert et al, 2003) with modification for alcohol derivatization (Niemann et al, 2005) and instrument setup (Blees et al, 2014;Steinle et al, 2018). Briefly, a total lipid extract (TLE) was obtained by ultrasonication of ∼ 20 g wet sediment samples in four extraction steps with solvents of decreasing polarity: dichloromethane (DCM) / methanol (MeOH) 1 : 2; DCM/MeOH 2 : 1; and DCM for the last two extraction steps.…”

Section: Lipid Extraction Quantification Identification and Determmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fracture-controlled fluid transport supports microbial methane-oxidizing communities at Vestnesa Ridge

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. We report a rare observation of a mini-fracture in near-surface sediments (30 cm below the seafloor) visualized using a rotational scanning X-ray of a core recovered from the Lomvi pockmark, Vestnesa Ridge, west of Svalbard (1200 m water depth). Porewater geochemistry and lipid biomarker signatures revealed clear differences in the geochemical and biogeochemical regimes of this core compared with two additional unfractured cores recovered from pockmark sites at Vestnesa Ridge, which we attribute to differential methane transport mechanisms. In the sediment core featuring the shallow mini-fracture at pockmark Lomvi, we observed high concentrations of both methane and sulfate throughout the core in tandem with moderately elevated values for total alkalinity, 13C-depleted dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and 13C-depleted lipid biomarkers (diagnostic for the slow-growing microbial communities mediating the anaerobic oxidation of methane with sulfate – AOM). In a separate unfractured core, recovered from the same pockmark about 80 m away from the fractured core, we observed complete sulfate depletion in the top centimeters of the sediment and much more pronounced signatures of AOM than in the fractured core. Our data indicate a gas advection-dominated transport mode in both cores, facilitating methane migration into sulfate-rich surface sediments. However, the moderate expression of AOM signals suggest a rather recent onset of gas migration at the site of the fractured core, while the geochemical evidence for a well-established AOM community at the second coring site suggest that gas migration has been going on for a longer period of time. A third core recovered from another pockmark along the Vestnesa Ridge Lunde pockmark was dominated by diffusive transport with only weak geochemical and biogeochemical evidence for AOM. Our study highlights that advective fluid and gas transport supported by mini-fractures can be important in modulating methane dynamics in surface sediments.

show abstract

“…Identities, concentrations, and stable carbon isotope composition of individual compounds were determined with a gas chromatograph linked to a quadrupole mass spectrometer, flame‐ionization detector, or an isotope ratio mass spectrometer, respectively, as described in Steinle et al (2018). Concentrations were calculated using the internal standard.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeochemical Consequences of Nonvertical Methane Transport in Sediment Offshore Northwestern Svalbard

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A site at the gas hydrate stability limit was investigated offshore northwestern Svalbard to study methane transport in sediment. The site was characterized by chemosynthetic communities (sulfur bacteria mats, tubeworms) and gas venting. Sediments were sampled with in situ porewater collectors and by gravity coring followed by analyses of porewater constituents, sediment and carbonate geochemistry, and microbial activity, taxonomy, and lipid biomarkers. Sulfide and alkalinity concentrations showed concentration maxima in near‐surface sediments at the bacterial mat and deeper maxima at the gas vent site. Sediments at the periphery of the chemosynthetic field were characterized by two sulfate‐methane transition zones (SMTZs) at ~204 and 45 cm depth, where activity maxima of microbial anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) with sulfate were found. Amplicon sequencing and lipid biomarker indicate that AOM at the SMTZs was mediated by ANME‐1 archaea. A 1D numerical transport reaction model suggests that the deeper SMTZ‐1 formed on centennial scale by vertical advection of methane, while the shallower SMTZ‐2 could only be reproduced by nonvertical methane injections starting on decadal scale. Model results were supported by age distribution of authigenic carbonates, showing youngest carbonates within SMTZ‐2. We propose that nonvertical methane injection was induced by increasing blockage of vertical transport or formation of sediment fractures. Our study further suggests that the methanotrophic response to the nonvertical methane injection was commensurate with new methane supply. This finding provides new information about for the response time and efficiency of the benthic methane filter in environments with fluctuating methane transport.

show abstract

Life on the edge: active microbial communities in the Kryos MgCl2-brine basin at very low water activity

Cited by 45 publications

References 96 publications

Microbial Communities From the World's Largest Lithium Reserve, Salar de Atacama, Chile: Life at High LiCl Concentrations

Microbial Communities From the World's Largest Lithium Reserve, Salar de Atacama, Chile: Life at High LiCl Concentrations

Fracture-controlled fluid transport supports microbial methane-oxidizing communities at Vestnesa Ridge

Biogeochemical Consequences of Nonvertical Methane Transport in Sediment Offshore Northwestern Svalbard

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About