Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph
Geochemical data indicate that protons released during pyrite (FeS2) oxidation are important drivers of mineral weathering in oxic and anoxic zones of many aquatic environments including those beneath glaciers. Oxidation of FeS2 under oxic, circumneutral conditions proceeds through the metastable in...
Published in: | Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9961 |
id |
ftmontanastateu:oai:scholarworks.montana.edu:1/9961 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmontanastateu:oai:scholarworks.montana.edu:1/9961 2023-05-15T16:22:28+02:00 Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph Harrold, Zoe R. Skidmore, Mark L. Hamilton, Trinity L. Desch, Elizabeth Kirina, Amada van Gelder, Will Glover, Kevin Roden, Eric E. Boyd, Eric S. 2015-12 application/pdf https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9961 unknown Harrold, Zöe R. , Mark L. Skidmore, Trinity L. Hamilton, Elizabeth Desch, Amada Kirina, Will van Gelder, Kevin Glover, Eric E. Roden, and Eric S. Boyd. "Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 82, no. 5 (December 2015 ): 1486-1495. DOI:10.1128/AEM.03398-15. Applied and Environmental Microbiology https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9961 Article 2015 ftmontanastateu https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.03398-15 2022-06-06T07:28:47Z Geochemical data indicate that protons released during pyrite (FeS2) oxidation are important drivers of mineral weathering in oxic and anoxic zones of many aquatic environments including those beneath glaciers. Oxidation of FeS2 under oxic, circumneutral conditions proceeds through the metastable intermediate thiosulfate (S2O32-), which represents an electron donor capable of supporting microbial metabolism. Subglacial meltwaters sampled from Robertson Glacier (RG), Canada over a seasonal melt cycle reveal concentrations of S2O32- that are typically below detection despite the presence of available pyrite and several orders of magnitude higher concentrations of the FeS2 oxidation product sulfate (SO42-). Here we report the physiological and genomic characterization of the chemolithoautotrophic facultative anaerobe Thiobacillus sp. RG5 isolated from the subglacial environment at RG. The RG5 genome encodes pathways for the complete oxidation of S2O32-, CO2 fixation, and aerobic and anaerobic respiration with nitrite or nitrate. Growth experiments indicate that the energy required to synthesize a cell under oxygen or nitrate reducing conditions with S2O32- as electron donor was lower at 5.1 °C than 14.4 °C, indicating that this organism is cold-adapted. RG sediment-associated soxB transcripts, which encode a component of the S2O32--oxidizing complex, were closely affiliated to soxB from RG5. Collectively, these results suggest an active sulfur cycle in the subglacial environment at RG mediated in part by populations closely affiliated with RG5. Microbial consumption of S2O32- by RG5-like populations may accelerate abiotic FeS2 oxidation thereby enhancing mineral weathering in the subglacial environment. NASA grants NNX10AT31G (MLS and ESB) and NNA15BB02A527 (ESB) Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier* Montana State University (MSU): ScholarWorks Canada Robertson Glacier ENVELOPE(165.383,165.383,-71.050,-71.050) Applied and Environmental Microbiology 82 5 1486 1495 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Montana State University (MSU): ScholarWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftmontanastateu |
language |
unknown |
description |
Geochemical data indicate that protons released during pyrite (FeS2) oxidation are important drivers of mineral weathering in oxic and anoxic zones of many aquatic environments including those beneath glaciers. Oxidation of FeS2 under oxic, circumneutral conditions proceeds through the metastable intermediate thiosulfate (S2O32-), which represents an electron donor capable of supporting microbial metabolism. Subglacial meltwaters sampled from Robertson Glacier (RG), Canada over a seasonal melt cycle reveal concentrations of S2O32- that are typically below detection despite the presence of available pyrite and several orders of magnitude higher concentrations of the FeS2 oxidation product sulfate (SO42-). Here we report the physiological and genomic characterization of the chemolithoautotrophic facultative anaerobe Thiobacillus sp. RG5 isolated from the subglacial environment at RG. The RG5 genome encodes pathways for the complete oxidation of S2O32-, CO2 fixation, and aerobic and anaerobic respiration with nitrite or nitrate. Growth experiments indicate that the energy required to synthesize a cell under oxygen or nitrate reducing conditions with S2O32- as electron donor was lower at 5.1 °C than 14.4 °C, indicating that this organism is cold-adapted. RG sediment-associated soxB transcripts, which encode a component of the S2O32--oxidizing complex, were closely affiliated to soxB from RG5. Collectively, these results suggest an active sulfur cycle in the subglacial environment at RG mediated in part by populations closely affiliated with RG5. Microbial consumption of S2O32- by RG5-like populations may accelerate abiotic FeS2 oxidation thereby enhancing mineral weathering in the subglacial environment. NASA grants NNX10AT31G (MLS and ESB) and NNA15BB02A527 (ESB) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Harrold, Zoe R. Skidmore, Mark L. Hamilton, Trinity L. Desch, Elizabeth Kirina, Amada van Gelder, Will Glover, Kevin Roden, Eric E. Boyd, Eric S. |
spellingShingle |
Harrold, Zoe R. Skidmore, Mark L. Hamilton, Trinity L. Desch, Elizabeth Kirina, Amada van Gelder, Will Glover, Kevin Roden, Eric E. Boyd, Eric S. Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph |
author_facet |
Harrold, Zoe R. Skidmore, Mark L. Hamilton, Trinity L. Desch, Elizabeth Kirina, Amada van Gelder, Will Glover, Kevin Roden, Eric E. Boyd, Eric S. |
author_sort |
Harrold, Zoe R. |
title |
Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph |
title_short |
Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph |
title_full |
Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph |
title_fullStr |
Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph |
title_full_unstemmed |
Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph |
title_sort |
aerobic and anaerobic thiosulfate oxidation by a cold-adapted, subglacial chemoautotroph |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9961 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(165.383,165.383,-71.050,-71.050) |
geographic |
Canada Robertson Glacier |
geographic_facet |
Canada Robertson Glacier |
genre |
glacier* |
genre_facet |
glacier* |
op_relation |
Harrold, Zöe R. , Mark L. Skidmore, Trinity L. Hamilton, Elizabeth Desch, Amada Kirina, Will van Gelder, Kevin Glover, Eric E. Roden, and Eric S. Boyd. "Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 82, no. 5 (December 2015 ): 1486-1495. DOI:10.1128/AEM.03398-15. Applied and Environmental Microbiology https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9961 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.03398-15 |
container_title |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
container_volume |
82 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1486 |
op_container_end_page |
1495 |
_version_ |
1766010449322573824 |