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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2008, p. 3959-3968, Vol. 74, No. 13
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02820-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Eukaryotic Diversity in an Anaerobic Aquifer Polluted with Landfill Leachate

Traian Brad,^1, Martin Braster,^1,4 Boris M. van Breukelen,² Nico M. van Straalen,^3,4 and Wilfred F. M. Röling^1,4*

Department of Molecular Cell Physiology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands,¹ Department of Hydrology and Geo-Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands,² Institute of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands,³ NGI Ecogenomics Consortium, Amsterdam, The Netherlands⁴

Received 13 December 2007/ Accepted 29 April 2008

Eukaryotes may influence pollutant degradation processes in groundwater ecosystems by activities such as predation on bacteria and recycling of nutrients. Culture-independent community profiling and phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA gene fragments, as well as culturing, were employed to obtain insight into the sediment-associated eukaryotic community composition in an anaerobic sandy aquifer polluted with landfill leachate (Banisveld, The Netherlands). The microeukaryotic community at a depth of 1 to 5 m below the surface along a transect downgradient (21 to 68 m) from the landfill and at a clean reference location was diverse. Fungal sequences dominated most clone libraries. The fungal diversity was high, and most sequences were sequences of yeasts of the Basidiomycota. Sequences of green algae (Chlorophyta) were detected in parts of the aquifer close (<30 m) to the landfill. The bacterium-predating nanoflagellate Heteromita globosa (Cercozoa) was retrieved in enrichments, and its sequences dominated the clone library derived from the polluted aquifer at a depth of 5 m at a location 21 m downgradient from the landfill. The number of culturable eukaryotes ranged from 10² to 10³ cells/g sediment. Culture-independent quantification revealed slightly higher numbers. Groundwater mesofauna was not detected. We concluded that the food chain in this polluted aquifer is short and consists of prokaryotes and fungi as decomposers of organic matter and protists as primary consumers of the prokaryotes.

Published ahead of print on 9 May 2008.

Present address: Institute of Speleology Emil Racoviçt, Clinicilor 5, P.O. Box 58, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.