This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Petrie, L.
Right arrow Articles by Kostka, J. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Petrie, L.
Right arrow Articles by Kostka, J. E.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Petrie, L.
Right arrow Articles by Kostka, J. E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2003, p. 7467-7479, Vol. 69, No. 12
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.12.7467-7479.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Enumeration and Characterization of Iron(III)-Reducing Microbial Communities from Acidic Subsurface Sediments Contaminated with Uranium(VI)

Lainie Petrie,1 Nadia N. North,1 Sherry L. Dollhopf,1 David L. Balkwill,2 and Joel E. Kostka1*

Department of Oceanography,1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 323062

Received 4 August 2003/ Accepted 15 September 2003

Iron(III)-reducing bacteria have been demonstrated to rapidly catalyze the reduction and immobilization of uranium(VI) from contaminated subsurface sediments. Thus, these organisms may aid in the development of bioremediation strategies for uranium contamination, which is prevalent in acidic subsurface sediments at U.S. government facilities. Iron(III)-reducing enrichment cultures were initiated from pristine and contaminated (high in uranium, nitrate; low pH) subsurface sediments at pH 7 and pH 4 to 5. Enumeration of Fe(III)-reducing bacteria yielded cell counts of up to 240 cells ml-1 for the contaminated and background sediments at both pHs with a range of different carbon sources (glycerol, acetate, lactate, and glucose). In enrichments where nitrate contamination was removed from the sediment by washing, MPN counts of Fe(III)-reducing bacteria increased substantially. Sediments of lower pH typically yielded lower counts of Fe(III)-reducing bacteria in lactate- and acetate-amended enrichments, but higher counts were observed when glucose was used as an electron donor in acidic enrichments. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences extracted from the highest positive MPN dilutions revealed that the predominant members of Fe(III)-reducing consortia from background sediments were closely related to members of the Geobacteraceae family, whereas a recently characterized Fe(III) reducer (Anaeromyxobacter sp.) and organisms not previously shown to reduce Fe(III) (Paenibacillus and Brevibacillus spp.) predominated in the Fe(III)-reducing consortia of contaminated sediments. Analysis of enrichment cultures by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) strongly supported the cloning and sequencing results. Dominant members of the Fe(III)-reducing consortia were observed to be stable over several enrichment culture transfers by T-RFLP in conjunction with measurements of Fe(III) reduction activity and carbon substrate utilization. Enrichment cultures from contaminated sites were also shown to rapidly reduce millimolar amounts of U(VI) in comparison to killed controls. With DNA extracted directly from subsurface sediments, quantitative analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences with MPN-PCR indicated that Geobacteraceae sequences were more abundant in pristine compared to contaminated environments,whereas Anaeromyxobacter sequences were more abundant in contaminated sediments. Thus, results from a combination of cultivation-based and cultivation-independent approaches indicate that the abundance/community composition of Fe(III)-reducing consortia in subsurface sediments is dependent upon geochemical parameters (pH, nitrate concentration) and that microorganisms capable of producing spores (gram positive) or spore-like bodies (Anaeromyxobacter) were representative of acidic subsurface environments.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Oceanography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306. Phone: (850) 645-3334. Fax: (850) 644-2581. E-mail: jkostka{at}ocean.fsu.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2003, p. 7467-7479, Vol. 69, No. 12
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.12.7467-7479.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Thomas, S. H., Padilla-Crespo, E., Jardine, P. M., Sanford, R. A., Loffler, F. E. (2009). Diversity and Distribution of Anaeromyxobacter Strains in a Uranium-Contaminated Subsurface Environment with a Nonuniform Groundwater Flow. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 3679-3687 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Risso, C., Methe, B. A., Elifantz, H., Holmes, D. E., Lovley, D. R. (2008). Highly conserved genes in Geobacter species with expression patterns indicative of acetate limitation. Microbiology 154: 2589-2599 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gao, W., Francis, A. J. (2008). Reduction of Uranium(VI) to Uranium(IV) by Clostridia. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4580-4584 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cardenas, E., Wu, W.-M., Leigh, M. B., Carley, J., Carroll, S., Gentry, T., Luo, J., Watson, D., Gu, B., Ginder-Vogel, M., Kitanidis, P. K., Jardine, P. M., Zhou, J., Criddle, C. S., Marsh, T. L., Tiedje, J. M. (2008). Microbial Communities in Contaminated Sediments, Associated with Bioremediation of Uranium to Submicromolar Levels. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3718-3729 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Akob, D. M., Mills, H. J., Gihring, T. M., Kerkhof, L., Stucki, J. W., Anastacio, A. S., Chin, K.-J., Kusel, K., Palumbo, A. V., Watson, D. B., Kostka, J. E. (2008). Functional Diversity and Electron Donor Dependence of Microbial Populations Capable of U(VI) Reduction in Radionuclide-Contaminated Subsurface Sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3159-3170 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Holmes, D. E., Mester, T., O'Neil, R. A., Perpetua, L. A., Larrahondo, M. J., Glaven, R., Sharma, M. L., Ward, J. E., Nevin, K. P., Lovley, D. R. (2008). Genes for two multicopper proteins required for Fe(III) oxide reduction in Geobacter sulfurreducens have different expression patterns both in the subsurface and on energy-harvesting electrodes. Microbiology 154: 1422-1435 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Risso, C., Van Dien, S. J., Orloff, A., Lovley, D. R., Coppi, M. V. (2008). Elucidation of an Alternate Isoleucine Biosynthesis Pathway in Geobacter sulfurreducens. J. Bacteriol. 190: 2266-2274 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hansel, C. M., Fendorf, S., Jardine, P. M., Francis, C. A. (2008). Changes in Bacterial and Archaeal Community Structure and Functional Diversity along a Geochemically Variable Soil Profile. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 1620-1633 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Blothe, M., Akob, D. M., Kostka, J. E., Goschel, K., Drake, H. L., Kusel, K. (2008). pH Gradient-Induced Heterogeneity of Fe(III)-Reducing Microorganisms in Coal Mining-Associated Lake Sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 1019-1029 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Michalsen, M. M., Peacock, A. D., Spain, A. M., Smithgal, A. N., White, D. C., Sanchez-Rosario, Y., Krumholz, L. R., Istok, J. D. (2007). Changes in Microbial Community Composition and Geochemistry during Uranium and Technetium Bioimmobilization. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 5885-5896 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Spain, A. M., Peacock, A. D., Istok, J. D., Elshahed, M. S., Najar, F. Z., Roe, B. A., White, D. C., Krumholz, L. R. (2007). Identification and Isolation of a Castellaniella Species Important during Biostimulation of an Acidic Nitrate- and Uranium-Contaminated Aquifer. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 4892-4904 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Barns, S. M., Cain, E. C., Sommerville, L., Kuske, C. R. (2007). Acidobacteria Phylum Sequences in Uranium-Contaminated Subsurface Sediments Greatly Expand the Known Diversity within the Phylum. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 3113-3116 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hori, T., Noll, M., Igarashi, Y., Friedrich, M. W., Conrad, R. (2007). Identification of Acetate-Assimilating Microorganisms under Methanogenic Conditions in Anoxic Rice Field Soil by Comparative Stable Isotope Probing of RNA. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 101-109 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brodie, E. L., DeSantis, T. Z., Joyner, D. C., Baek, S. M., Larsen, J. T., Andersen, G. L., Hazen, T. C., Richardson, P. M., Herman, D. J., Tokunaga, T. K., Wan, J. M., Firestone, M. K. (2006). Application of a High-Density Oligonucleotide Microarray Approach To Study Bacterial Population Dynamics during Uranium Reduction and Reoxidation. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 6288-6298 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Moon, J.-W., Roh, Y., Phelps, T. J., Phillips, D. H., Watson, D. B., Kim, Y.-J., Brooks, S. C. (2006). Physicochemical and Mineralogical Characterization of Soil-Saprolite Cores from a Field Research Site, Tennessee. J. Environ. Qual. 35: 1731-1741 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Martinez, R. J., Wang, Y., Raimondo, M. A., Coombs, J. M., Barkay, T., Sobecky, P. A. (2006). Horizontal Gene Transfer of PIB-Type ATPases among Bacteria Isolated from Radionuclide- and Metal-Contaminated Subsurface Soils.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 3111-3118 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wu, Q., Sanford, R. A., Loffler, F. E. (2006). Uranium(VI) Reduction by Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans Strain 2CP-C.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 3608-3614 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Moreira, D., Rodriguez-Valera, F., Lopez-Garcia, P. (2006). Metagenomic analysis of mesopelagic Antarctic plankton reveals a novel deltaproteobacterial group. Microbiology 152: 505-517 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Holmes, D. E., Nevin, K. P., O'Neil, R. A., Ward, J. E., Adams, L. A., Woodard, T. L., Vrionis, H. A., Lovley, D. R. (2005). Potential for Quantifying Expression of the Geobacteraceae Citrate Synthase Gene To Assess the Activity of Geobacteraceae in the Subsurface and on Current-Harvesting Electrodes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 6870-6877 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Senko, J. M., Dewers, T. A., Krumholz, L. R. (2005). Effect of Oxidation Rate and Fe(II) State on Microbial Nitrate-Dependent Fe(III) Mineral Formation. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 7172-7177 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nevin, K. P., Holmes, D. E., Woodard, T. L., Hinlein, E. S., Ostendorf, D. W., Lovley, D. R. (2005). Geobacter bemidjiensis sp. nov. and Geobacter psychrophilus sp. nov., two novel Fe(III)-reducing subsurface isolates. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 55: 1667-1674 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Coppi, M. V. (2005). The hydrogenases of Geobacter sulfurreducens: a comparative genomic perspective. Microbiology 151: 1239-1254 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Reardon, C. L., Cummings, D. E., Petzke, L. M., Kinsall, B. L., Watson, D. B., Peyton, B. M., Geesey, G. G. (2004). Composition and Diversity of Microbial Communities Recovered from Surrogate Minerals Incubated in an Acidic Uranium-Contaminated Aquifer. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 6037-6046 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • North, N. N., Dollhopf, S. L., Petrie, L., Istok, J. D., Balkwill, D. L., Kostka, J. E. (2004). Change in Bacterial Community Structure during In Situ Biostimulation of Subsurface Sediment Cocontaminated with Uranium and Nitrate. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 4911-4920 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»