Skip to main content
PMC home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1997 May;63(5):1905–1910. doi: 10.1128/aem.63.5.1905-1910.1997

Ecophysiological Evidence that Achromatium oxaliferum Is Responsible for the Oxidation of Reduced Sulfur Species to Sulfate in a Freshwater Sediment

N D Gray, R W Pickup, J G Jones, I M Head
PMCID: PMC1389159  PMID: 16535604

Abstract

Achromatium oxaliferum is a large, morphologically conspicuous, sediment-dwelling bacterium. The organism has yet to be cultured in the laboratory, and very little is known about its physiology. The presence of intracellular inclusions of calcite and sulfur have given rise to speculation that the bacterium is involved in the carbon and sulfur cycles in the sediments where it is found. Depth profiles of oxygen concentration and A. oxaliferum cell numbers in a freshwater sediment revealed that the A. oxaliferum population spanned the oxic-anoxic boundary in the top 3 to 4 cm of sediments. Some of the A. oxaliferum cells resided at depths where no oxygen was detectable, suggesting that these cells may be capable of anaerobic metabolism. The distributions of solid-phase and dissolved inorganic sulfur species in the sediment revealed that A. oxaliferum was most abundant where sulfur cycling was most intense. The sediment was characterized by low concentrations of free sulfide. However, a comparison of sulfate reduction rates in sediment cores incubated with either oxic or anoxic overlying water indicated that the oxidative and reductive components of the sulfur cycle were tightly coupled in the A. oxaliferum-bearing sediment. A positive correlation between pore water sulfate concentration and A. oxaliferum numbers was observed in field data collected over an 18-month period, suggesting a possible link between A. oxaliferum numbers and the oxidation of reduced sulfur species to sulfate. The field data were supported by laboratory incubation experiments in which sodium molybdate-treated sediment cores were augmented with highly purified suspensions of A. oxaliferum cells. Under oxic conditions, rates of sulfate production in the presence of sodium molybdate were found to correlate strongly with the number of cells added to sediment cores, providing further evidence for a role for A. oxaliferum in the oxidation of reduced sulfur.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (317.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Banat I. M., Lindström E. B., Nedwell D. B., Balba M. T. Evidence for coexistence of two distinct functional groups of sulfate-reducing bacteria in salt marsh sediment. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 Dec;42(6):985–992. doi: 10.1128/aem.42.6.985-992.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Canfield D. E. Reactive iron in marine sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta. 1989;53:619–632. doi: 10.1016/0016-7037(89)90005-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. De Boer W. E., La Rivière J. W., Schmidt K. Some properties of Achromatium oxaliferum. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek. 1971;37(4):553–563. doi: 10.1007/BF02218525. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Head I. M., Gray N. D., Clarke K. J., Pickup R. W., Jones J. G. The phylogenetic position and ultrastructure of the uncultured bacterium Achromatium oxaliferum. Microbiology. 1996 Sep;142(Pt 9):2341–2354. doi: 10.1099/00221287-142-9-2341. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hordijk K. A., Hagenaars C. P., Cappenberg T. E. Kinetic studies of bacterial sulfate reduction in freshwater sediments by high-pressure liquid chromatography and microdistillation. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 Feb;49(2):434–440. doi: 10.1128/aem.49.2.434-440.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Huettel M., Forster S., Kloser S., Fossing H. Vertical Migration in the Sediment-Dwelling Sulfur Bacteria Thioploca spp. in Overcoming Diffusion Limitations. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1996 Jun;62(6):1863–1872. doi: 10.1128/aem.62.6.1863-1872.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Jørgensen B. B. A thiosulfate shunt in the sulfur cycle of marine sediments. Science. 1990 Jul 13;249(4965):152–154. doi: 10.1126/science.249.4965.152. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jørgensen B. B. Ecology of the bacteria of the sulphur cycle with special reference to anoxic-oxic interface environments. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1982 Sep 13;298(1093):543–561. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1982.0096. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lovley D. R. Dissimilatory Fe(III) and Mn(IV) reduction. Microbiol Rev. 1991 Jun;55(2):259–287. doi: 10.1128/mr.55.2.259-287.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lovley D. R., Phillips E. J. Availability of ferric iron for microbial reduction in bottom sediments of the freshwater tidal potomac river. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1986 Oct;52(4):751–757. doi: 10.1128/aem.52.4.751-757.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lovley D. R., Phillips E. J. Novel processes for anaerobic sulfate production from elemental sulfur by sulfate-reducing bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1994 Jul;60(7):2394–2399. doi: 10.1128/aem.60.7.2394-2399.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Møller M. M., Nielsen L. P., Jørgensen B. B. Oxygen Responses and Mat Formation by Beggiatoa spp. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 Aug;50(2):373–382. doi: 10.1128/aem.50.2.373-382.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Nelson D. C., Jørgensen B. B., Revsbech N. P. Growth Pattern and Yield of a Chemoautotrophic Beggiatoa sp. in Oxygen-Sulfide Microgradients. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1986 Aug;52(2):225–233. doi: 10.1128/aem.52.2.225-233.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Pronk J. T., de Bruyn J. C., Bos P., Kuenen J. G. Anaerobic Growth of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1992 Jul;58(7):2227–2230. doi: 10.1128/aem.58.7.2227-2230.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Raiswell R., Canfield D. E., Berner R. A. A comparison of iron extraction methods for the determination of degree of pyritisation and the recognition of iron-limited pyrite formation. Chem Geol. 1994;111:101–110. doi: 10.1016/0009-2541(94)90084-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Thamdrup B., Finster K., Hansen J. W., Bak F. Bacterial disproportionation of elemental sulfur coupled to chemical reduction of iron or manganese. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1993 Jan;59(1):101–108. doi: 10.1128/aem.59.1.101-108.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES