Microbial communities along biogeochemical gradients in a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Microbial communities along biogeochemical gradients in a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer
Creators Name:	Tischer, K. and Kleinsteuber, S. and Schleinitz, K.M. and Fetzer, I. and Spott, O. and Stange, F. and Lohse, U. and Franz, J. and Neumann, F. and Gerling, S. and Schmidt, C. and Hasselwander, E. and Harms, H. and Wendeberg, A.
Abstract:	Micro-organisms are known to degrade a wide range of toxic substances. How the environment shapes microbial communities in polluted ecosystems and thus influences degradation capabilities is not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigated microbial communities in a highly complex environment: the capillary fringe and subjacent sediments in a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer. Sixty sediment sections were analysed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) fingerprinting, cloning and sequencing of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes, complemented by chemical analyses of petroleum hydrocarbons, methane, oxygen and alternative terminal electron acceptors. Multivariate statistics revealed concentrations of contaminants and the position of the water table as significant factors shaping the microbial community composition. Micro-organisms with highest T-RFLP abundances were related to sulphate reducers belonging to the genus Desulfosporosinus, fermenting bacteria of the genera Sedimentibacter and Smithella, and aerobic hydrocarbon degraders of the genus Acidovorax. Furthermore, the acetoclastic methanogens Methanosaeta, and hydrogenotrophic methanogens Methanocella and Methanoregula were detected. Whereas sulphate and sulphate reducers prevail at the contamination source, the detection of methane, fermenting bacteria and methanogenic archaea further downstream points towards syntrophic hydrocarbon degradation.
Keywords:	16S Ribosomal RNA, Archaea, Bacteria, Bacterial Physiological Phenomena, Biodiversity, Chemical Water Pollutants, Groundwater, Hydrocarbons, Water Microbiology
Source:	Environmental Microbiology
ISSN:	1462-2912
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
Volume:	15
Number:	9
Page Range:	2603-2615
Date:	September 2013
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.12168
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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