Long-distance electron transport occurs globally in marine sediments

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: L. D. W. Burdorf, A. Tramper, D. Seitaj, L. Meire, S. Hidalgo-Martinez, E.-M. Zetsche, H. T. S. Boschker, F. J. R. Meysman
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2017
• Subjects: Ecology; QH540-549.5; Life; QH501-531; Geology; QE1-996.5; Greenland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-683-2017; https://doaj.org/article/af09073c36004ff0a57347905fb4261f

Recently, long filamentous bacteria have been reported conducting electrons over centimetre distances in marine sediments. These so-called cable bacteria perform an electrogenic form of sulfur oxidation, whereby long-distance electron transport links sulfide oxidation in deeper sediment horizons to oxygen reduction in the upper millimetres of the sediment. Electrogenic sulfur oxidation exerts a strong impact on the local sediment biogeochemistry, but it is currently unknown how prevalent the process is within the seafloor. Here we provide a state-of-the-art assessment of its global distribution by combining new field observations with previous reports from the literature. This synthesis demonstrates that electrogenic sulfur oxidation, and hence microbial long-distance electron transport, is a widespread phenomenon in the present-day seafloor. The process is found in coastal sediments within different climate zones (off the Netherlands, Greenland, the USA, Australia) and thrives on a range of different coastal habitats (estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves, coastal hypoxic basins, intertidal flats). The combination of a widespread occurrence and a strong local geochemical imprint suggests that electrogenic sulfur oxidation could be an important, and hitherto overlooked, component of the marine cycle of carbon, sulfur and other elements.