Hydrostatic pressure drives microbe-mediated biodegradation of microplastics in surface sediments of deep reservoirs: Novel findings from hydrostatic pressure simulation experiments.

Microplastics originate from the physical, chemical, or biological degradation of plastics in the environment. Once ingested by organisms at the bottom of the food chain, microplastics are passed on to organisms at higher trophic levels, posing a threat to human health. The distribution of microplastics and the metabolic pathways involved in their microbial degradation in surface sediments of drinking water reservoirs are still poorly understood. This study analyzed the occurrence patterns of microplastics and microbial community structure associated with microplastic biodegradation in surface sediments from a deep reservoir at various hydrostatic pressures. Based on the results of Fourier-transform and laser direct infrared spectroscopy, elevating the pressure resulted in altered sizes and shapes of microplastics in sediment samples with the presence of microorganisms. The influence of hydrostatic pressure on small-sized microplastics (20-500 µm) was pronounced. For instance, high pressure accelerated the breakdown of fibers, pellets, and fragments into smaller-sized microplastics. In particular, the mean size of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics decreased from 425.78 µm at atmospheric pressure to 366.62 µm at 0.7 Mpa. Metagenomic analysis revealed an increase in the relative abundances of plastic-degrading genera, such as Rhodococcus, Flavobacterium, and Aspergillus, in response to elevated pressures. Eight functional genes for biodegradation of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate microplastics were annotated, including paaK, ladA, tphA3. Of these, tphA3 gene abundance was negatively influenced by hydrostatic pressure, providing direct evidence for the pathway by which microbial metabolism of polyethylene terephthalate led to decreased microplastic size under high pressure conditions. This study presents novel insights into hydrostatic pressure-driven microbial community structure, functional gene abundance, and key metabolic pathways associated with biodegradation of microplastics in reservoir sediments.

Spatiotemporal dynamics, community assembly and functional potential of sedimentary archaea in reservoirs: coaction of stochasticity and nutrient load.

Archaea participate in biogeochemical cycles in aquatic ecosystems, and deciphering their community dynamics and assembly mechanisms is key to understanding their ecological functions. Here, sediments from 12 selected reservoirs from the Wujiang and Pearl River basins in southwest China were investigated using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing and quantitative PCR for archaeal abundance and richness in all seasons. Generally, archaeal abundance and α-diversity were significantly correlated with temperature; however, ß-diversity analysis showed that community structures varied greatly among locations rather than seasons, indicating a distance-decay pattern with geographical variation. The null model revealed the major contribution of stochasticity to archaeal community assembly, which was further confirmed by the neutral community model that could explain 71.7% and 90.2% of the variance in archaeal assembly in the Wujiang and Pearl River basins, respectively. Moreover, sediment total nitrogen and organic carbon levels were significantly correlated with archaeal abundance and α-diversity. Interestingly, these nutrient levels were positively and negatively correlated, respectively, with the abundance of methanogenic and ammonia-oxidized archaea: the dominant sedimentary archaea in these reservoirs. Taken together, this work systematically characterized archaeal community profiles in reservoir sediments and demonstrated the combined action of stochastic processes and nutrient load in shaping archaeal communities in reservoir ecosystems.

Phosphorus fractions in the sediment of a tropical reservoir, India: Implications for pollution source identification and eutrophication.

Eutrophication level in lakes and reservoirs depends on both internal and external phosphorus (P) load. Characterization of sediment P fractionation and identifying the P pollution sources are important for assessing the bio-availability of P and the dominant P source, for effectively controlling the water pollution. For determining the availability and sources of sediment P and eutrophication status, spatio-temporal variation in different P fractionation of sediment of hyper-eutrophic Krishnagiri reservoir, Tamil Nadu, India, was investigated. Sediment average total P (TP) content ranged from 4.62 to 5.64 g/kg. Main phosphorus form was the inorganic P (IP), and it makes up to 73.4-87.7% of TP. Among the different P fraction, viz. calcium bound (Ca-P), iron bound (Fe-P), aluminium bound (Al-P), exchangeable (Ex-P) and Organic-P (Org-P), Ca-P was the dominating fraction in both IP and TP. Trend of IP fraction was as follows: Ca-P > Fe-P > Al-P > Ex-P in pre-monsoon season, Fe-P > Ca-P > Al-P > Ex-P in monsoon and Ca-P > Al-P > Fe-P > Ex-P in post-monsoon. Overall the trend was as follows Ca-P > Fe-P > Al-P > Org-P > Ex-P. Bio-available-P (BAP) fractions ranged from 35.2 to 64.0% of TP, indicating its comparative higher value. Pearson's correlation matrix revealed that there was strong correlation among the different P fractions. Factor analysis indicates that different fractions of P were the dominating factor than the other sediment parameters. The observed variation in sediment P fractionation indicate the differences in source and characterization of P which is very helpful for implementation of effective management practices in controlling pollution that arises due to phosphorus in this hyper-eutrophic reservoir.

Effect of extraction methods on mobilizable colloids and associated phosphorus from reservoir sediment.

Mobilizable colloids from reservoir sediment contain nutrients and contaminants, thus may affect water quality once being released. A major obstacle to evaluate the quantity and quality of mobilizable colloids in natural system is the using of appropriate method for colloid extraction from sediment and their separation from dissolved and particulate phases. This work evaluates the role of different extraction methods (agitation, sonication at sediment pH, and sonication at alkaline pH) on the characteristics (mass, size, shape and composition) of water-mobilizable colloids from sediment of Champsanglard dam reservoir (France). Attention has been paid to phosphorus (P), an important element in controlling eutrophication. Recovered colloids were highly affected on both quantity and quality according to the different applied protocols. The less aggressive agitation liberated low-energy water-dispersible colloids without physical damage and with less modification in colloidal chemical composition and shape, whereas sonication released 10-20 times higher colloid quantity but in lower size, due to physically disruption of fragile sediment structure or aggregated/chained colloids. In contrast, alkaline pH intensified colloid release by fortified repulsive forces between colloids and dissolution of organic coat. Concerning phosphorus, competition with hydroxide ions for sorption site or dissolution of phosphate minerals in alkaline pH caused release of dissolved P to solution and decrease of P content in recovered colloids. A special care should be paid to method selection according to the aim of the study and when comparing data from experiments conducted with different colloid extraction methods.

Integrating experiments with system-level biogeochemical modeling to understand nitrogen cycling of reservoir sediments at elevated hydrostatic pressure.

Impoundment of rivers to construct reservoirs for hydropower and irrigation greatly increase the hydrostatic pressure acting on river sediments with potential repercussions for ecosystem-level microbial activity and metabolism. Understanding the functioning and responses of key biogeochemical cycles such as that of nitrogen cycling to shifting hydrostatic pressure is needed to estimate and predict the systemic nutrient dynamics in deep-water reservoirs. We studied the functioning of bacterial communities involved in nitrogen transformation in bioreactors maintained under contrasting hydrostatic pressures (0.5 MPa-3.0 MPa) and complemented the experimental approach with a functional gene-informed biogeochemical model. The model predictions were broadly consistent with observations from the experiment, suggesting that the rates of N2O production decreased while the sediment concentration of nitrite increased significantly with increasing pressure, at least when exceeding 1.0 MPa. Changes in nitrite reduction (nirS) and aerobic ammonia oxidation (amoA) genes abundances were in accordance with the observed changes in N2O production and nitrite levels. Moreover, the model predicted that the higher pressures (P > 1.5 MPa) would intensify the inhibition of N2 production via denitrification and result in an accumulation of ammonia in the sediment along with a decrease in dissolved oxygen. The results imply that increased hydrostatic pressure caused by dam constructions may have a strong effect on microbial nitrogen conversion, and that this may result in lower nitrogen removal.

[Community characteristics of polyphosphate accummulating organisms in the heart sediment of three reservoirs in Fujian Province, China.] / 福建省3座水库库心沉积物聚磷菌的群落特征.

Polyphosphate accummulating organisms (PAOs) play an important role in the phosphorus metabolic cycling in the sediment of reservoir. We assessed the diversity and community structure of PAOs in the sediments by T-RFLP and clone sequencing which targeted ppk1 gene at the hearts of three reservoirs (Jiulongjiangxipi reservoir, Sanshiliujiao lake reservoir and Dongyaxi reservoir) in Fujian Province. The results showed that the diversity of PAOs varied among different reservoirs, though not statistically significant. The diversity of PAOs in the Sanshiliujiao lake reservoir was highest (Shannon index H=2.89±0.03, Simpson index D=0.06±0.01). The community structure of the PAOs in the Sanshiliujiao lake reservoir was most complicated, consistent with the results of the T-RFLP. The differences of dominant PAOs genera in three reservoirs were distinct, mainly concentrated in the Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria. The percentage of those three phylum accounted for 74.5%, 85.0% and 75.0%, respectively, of the total PAOs. The dominant groups in each reservoir sediment were Anaeromyxobacter and Solibacter. Various forms of phosphorus had certain influence on the diversity of PAOs. There were significantly correlation between Fe/Al-P and PAOs diversity and community structure. The dominant genus in the three reservoirs, Anaeromyxobacter, was positively correlated with all forms of phosphorus and significantly correlated with insoluble phosphorus such as OP and Ca-P, while Solibacter was negatively correlated with all forms of phosphorus. The results suggested that PAOs had important impacts on the phosphorus cycle of sediment in eutrophicatied reservoirs.

Origin and effect factors of sedimentary organic carbon in a karst groundwater-fed reservoir, South China.

Reservoirs are commonly recharged by groundwater that is rich in bicarbonate ions in karst regions of South China, and the recharge of this groundwater to the reservoir can affect the biogeochemical processes of carbon sedimentation at the reservoir bottom. In this study, Dalongdong Reservoir, which is mainly recharged by two subterranean streams, was investigated based on a 42-cm-thick sedimentary core and the 210Pb/137Cs dating technique and isotope analyses to understand the sedimentary history and identify the carbon sources. The 210Pb/137Cs age model showed that the sediments were accumulated over the last 60 years. The annual increase precipitation and temperature showed no obvious change compared with trends of δ13C in total organic carbon (δ13Corg), δ15N values in total nitrogen, and the carbon and nitrogen ratio (C/N). This shows that climate was not the main control of the variation in sediment factors. Based on δ13Corg, δ15N, C/N, and isotopic mixing modeling, sources of organic carbon in the sediments were derived from plankton (60.84%), soil (22.93%), waste water (14.56%), and terrestrial plants (1.67%). From 1958 to 1978, reservoir establishment and leakage affected the contribution of the four sources. The contribution of the plankton source increased from 1978 to 2015, resulting from change of water level and continued input of external nitrogen. However, because of the revegetation supplied by an economic aid project the contribution of soil showed a considerable decreasing trend from 1978 to 2002. After 2002, For "Grain for Green" project, the contribution from soil further decreased. After reservoir construction, the contribution of waste water stabilized. The contribution of terrestrial plants started increased rapidly after 2002. Karst groundwater, which contains more dissolved inorganic carbon containing lower δ13CDIC than the water sources of other lakes or reservoirs, makes the δ13Corg value of sediment more negative by phytoplankton photosynthesis in the reservoir.

Possible options to slow down the advancement rate of Tarbela delta.

The pivot point of delta in Tarbela dam has reached at about 10.6 km from the dam face which may result in blocking of tunnels. Tarbela delta was modeled from 1979 to 2060 using hec-6 model. Initially, the model was calibrated for year 1999 and validated for years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2006 by involving the data of sediment concentration, reservoir cross sections (73 range lines), elevation-area capacity curves, and inflows and outflows from the reservoir. Then, the model was used to generate future scenarios, i.e., run-1, run-2, and run-3 with pool levels; 428, 442, and 457 m, respectively, till 2060. Results of run-1 and run-2 showed advancement to choke the tunnels by 2010 and 2030, respectively. Finally, in run-3, the advancement was further delayed showing that tunnels 1 and 2 will be choked by year 2050 and pivot point will reach at 6.4 km from the dam face.

Spatiotemporal variation of bacterial and archaeal communities in sediments of a drinking reservoir, Beijing, China.

Bacterial and archaeal assemblages are one of the most important contributors to the recycling of nutrients and the decomposition of organic matter in aquatic sediments. However, their spatiotemporal variation and its driving factors remain unclear, especially for drinking reservoirs, which are strongly affected by human consumption. Using quantitative PCR and Illumina MiSeq sequencing, we investigated the bacterial and archaeal communities in the sediments of a drinking reservoir, the Miyun Reservoir, one of the most important drinking sources for Beijing City. The abundance of bacteria and archaea presented no spatiotemporal variation. With respect to community diversity, visible spatial and temporal differences were observed in archaea, whereas the bacterial community showed minor variation. The bacterial communities in the reservoir sediment mainly included Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Nitrospirae, Acidobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. The bacterial community structure showed obvious spatial variation. The composition of the bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and main phyla were dam-specific; the composition of samples in front of the dam were significantly different from the composition of the other samples. The archaeal communities were mainly represented by Woesearchaeota and Euryarchaeota. Distinctly spatial and seasonal variation was observed in the archaeal community structure. The sediment NH4+-N, pH, and water depth were identified as the key driving factors of changes in the composition of the bacterial and archaeal communities. Water depth might have the greatest influence on the microbial community structure. The dam-specific community structure may be related to the greater water depth in front of the dam. This finding indicates that water depth might be the greatest contributor to the microbial community structure in the Miyun Reservoir.