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Attached and Suspended Denitrifier Communities in Pristine Limestone Aquifers Harbor High Fractions of Potential Autotrophs Oxidizing Reduced Iron and Sulfur Compounds

  • Microbiology of Aquatic Systems
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Abstract

Oxygen and nitrate availability as well as the presence of suitable organic or inorganic electron donors are strong drivers of denitrification; however, the factors influencing denitrifier abundance and community composition in pristine aquifers are not well understood. We explored the denitrifier community structure of suspended and attached groundwater microorganisms in two superimposed limestone aquifer assemblages with contrasting oxygen regime in the Hainich Critical Zone Exploratory (Germany). Attached communities were retrieved from freshly crushed parent rock material which had been exposed for colonization in two groundwater wells (12.7 and 48 m depth). Quantitative PCR and amplicon pyrosequencing of nirK and nirS genes encoding copper-containing or cytochrome cd1 heme-type nitrite reductase, respectively, and of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA genes showed a numerical predominance of nirS-type denitrifiers in both attached and suspended groundwater communities and a dominance of nirS-type denitrifiers closely related to the autotrophic thiosulfate- and hydrogen-oxidizing Sulfuritalea hydrogenivorans and the iron- and sulfide-oxidizing Sideroxydans lithotrophicus ES-1. Potential rates of nitrate reduction in association with exposed crushed rock material were higher with an inorganic electron donor (thiosulfate) compared to an organic electron donor (fumarate/acetate) in the upper aquifer assemblage but similar in the lower, oxic aquifer. Our results have clearly demonstrated that groundwater from pristine limestone aquifers harbors diverse denitrifier communities which appear to selectively attach to rock surfaces and harbor a high potential for nitrate reduction. Our findings suggest that the availability of suitable inorganic versus organic electron donors rather than oxygen availability shapes denitrifier communities and their potential activity in these limestone aquifers.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Patricia Geesink, Erika Köhnke, Holger Hartmann, Robert Lehmann, and Heiko Minkmar for their help with the field and laboratory work. This work was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (CRC 1076 AquaDiva) and the Free State of Thuringia (ProExcellence Initiative “AquaDiv@Jena” and ProChance Programmlinie A1, Friedrich Schiller University Jena). Sequencing was financially supported by the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, funded by the DFG (FZT118). The climate chambers to conduct experiments under controlled temperature conditions were financially supported by the Thüringer Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Digitale Gesellschaft (TMWWDG; project B 715-09075).

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  1. Aquatic Geomicrobiology, Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743, Jena, Germany

    M Herrmann, S Opitz, R Harzer & K Küsel

  2. German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    M Herrmann & K Küsel

  3. Institute of Geosciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749, Jena, Germany

    KU Totsche

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Herrmann, M., Opitz, S., Harzer, R. et al. Attached and Suspended Denitrifier Communities in Pristine Limestone Aquifers Harbor High Fractions of Potential Autotrophs Oxidizing Reduced Iron and Sulfur Compounds. Microb Ecol 74, 264–277 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-017-0950-x

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