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A Novel Autotrophic Bacterium Isolated from an Engineered Wetland System Links Nitrate-Coupled Iron Oxidation to the Removal of As, Zn and S

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Abstract

A neutrophilic, autotrophic bacterium that couples iron oxidation to nitrate reduction (iron-oxidizing bacteria [IOB]) under anoxic conditions was isolated from a working bioremediation site in Trail, British Columbia. The site was designed and developed primarily to treat high concentrations of Zn and As that originate from capped industrial landfill sites. The system consisted of two upflow biochemical reactor cells (BCR) followed by three vegetated wetland polishing cells with sub-surface flow and a holding pond. During a 5-year period (2003–2007), the system treated more than 19,100 m3 of contaminated water, removing and sequestering more than 10,700 kg of As, Zn and sulfate at average input water concentrations of: As, 58.6 mg l−1 (±39.9 mg l−1); Zn, 51.9 mg l−1 (±35.4 mg l−1) and SO4 2−, 781.5 mg l−1 (±287.8 mg l−1). The bacterium was isolated in order to better understand the mechanisms underlying the consistent As removal that took place in the system. Analysis using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) database showed that the closest homologies are to Candidatus accumulibacterphosphatis (95 % homology), Dechloromonas aromatica (94 %), and Sideroxydans lithotrophicus ES-1 (92 %) Within the BCR cells, the IOB oxidized Fe2+ generated by iron-reducing bacteria (IRB); the source of the iron was most likely biosolids and coatings of iron oxide on locally available sand used in the matrix. We have provisionally designated the novel bacterium as TR1.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Ontario Centres of Excellence Program, which generously funded this work. We also acknowledge the support of several industry partners: Teck Metals Limited, NatureWorks and Stantec. Assistance and advice from Kamini Khosla and Kari Dunfield (University of Guelph) for the molecular genetic studies is appreciated. We thank Dianne Moyles, Bob Harris and the late Terry Beveridge for assistance with TEM imaging.

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  1. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Al Mattes & Susan Glasauer

  2. Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratory, Natural Resources Canada, 555 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Douglas Gould

  3. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Marcus Taupp

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  1. Al Mattes
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Correspondence to Susan Glasauer.

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Mattes, A., Gould, D., Taupp, M. et al. A Novel Autotrophic Bacterium Isolated from an Engineered Wetland System Links Nitrate-Coupled Iron Oxidation to the Removal of As, Zn and S. Water Air Soil Pollut 224, 1490 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1490-8

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