Microbial communities and organic biomarkers in a Proterozoic-analog sinkhole.

Little Salt Spring (Sarasota County, FL, USA) is a sinkhole with groundwater vents at ~77 m depth. The entire water column experiences sulfidic (~50 µM) conditions seasonally, resulting in a system poised between oxic and sulfidic conditions. Red pinnacle mats occupy the sediment-water interface in the sunlit upper basin of the sinkhole, and yielded 16S rRNA gene clones affiliated with Cyanobacteria, Chlorobi, and sulfate-reducing clades of Deltaproteobacteria. Nine bacteriochlorophyll e homologues and isorenieratene indicate contributions from Chlorobi, and abundant chlorophyll a and pheophytin a are consistent with the presence of Cyanobacteria. The red pinnacle mat contains hopanoids, including 2-methyl structures that have been interpreted as biomarkers for Cyanobacteria. A single sequence of hpnP, the gene required for methylation of hopanoids at the C-2 position, was recovered in both DNA and cDNA libraries from the red pinnacle mat. The hpnP sequence was most closely related to cyanobacterial hpnP sequences, implying that Cyanobacteria are a source of 2-methyl hopanoids present in the mat. The mats are capable of light-dependent primary productivity as evidenced by 13 C-bicarbonate photoassimilation. We also observed 13 C-bicarbonate photoassimilation in the presence of DCMU, an inhibitor of electron transfer to Photosystem II. Our results indicate that the mats carry out light-driven primary production in the absence of oxygen production-a mechanism that may have delayed the oxygenation of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere during the Proterozoic Eon. Furthermore, our observations of the production of 2-methyl hopanoids by Cyanobacteria under conditions of low oxygen and low light are consistent with the recovery of these structures from ancient black shales as well as their paucity in modern marine environments.

Coupled reductive and oxidative sulfur cycling in the phototrophic plate of a meromictic lake.

Mahoney Lake represents an extreme meromictic model system and is a valuable site for examining the organisms and processes that sustain photic zone euxinia (PZE). A single population of purple sulfur bacteria (PSB) living in a dense phototrophic plate in the chemocline is responsible for most of the primary production in Mahoney Lake. Here, we present metagenomic data from this phototrophic plate--including the genome of the major PSB, as obtained from both a highly enriched culture and from the metagenomic data--as well as evidence for multiple other taxa that contribute to the oxidative sulfur cycle and to sulfate reduction. The planktonic PSB is a member of the Chromatiaceae, here renamed Thiohalocapsa sp. strain ML1. It produces the carotenoid okenone, yet its closest relatives are benthic PSB isolates, a finding that may complicate the use of okenone (okenane) as a biomarker for ancient PZE. Favorable thermodynamics for non-phototrophic sulfide oxidation and sulfate reduction reactions also occur in the plate, and a suite of organisms capable of oxidizing and reducing sulfur is apparent in the metagenome. Fluctuating supplies of both reduced carbon and reduced sulfur to the chemocline may partly account for the diversity of both autotrophic and heterotrophic species. Collectively, the data demonstrate the physiological potential for maintaining complex sulfur and carbon cycles in an anoxic water column, driven by the input of exogenous organic matter. This is consistent with suggestions that high levels of oxygenic primary production maintain episodes of PZE in Earth's history and that such communities should support a diversity of sulfur cycle reactions.

Carotenoid biomarkers as an imperfect reflection of the anoxygenic phototrophic community in meromictic Fayetteville Green Lake.

Organic biomarkers in marine sedimentary rocks hold important clues about the early history of Earth's surface environment. The chemical relicts of carotenoids from anoxygenic sulfur bacteria are of particular interest to geoscientists because of their potential to signal episodes of marine photic-zone euxinia such as those proposed for extended periods in the Proterozoic as well as brief intervals during the Phanerozoic. It is therefore critical to constrain the environmental and physiological factors that influence carotenoid production and preservation in modern environments. Here, we present the results of coupled pigment and nucleic acid clone library analyses from planktonic and benthic samples collected from a microbially dominated meromictic lake, Fayetteville Green Lake (New York). Purple sulfur bacteria (PSB) are abundant and diverse both in the water column at the chemocline and in benthic mats below oxygenated shallow waters, with different PSB species inhabiting the two environments. Okenone (from PSB) is an abundant carotenoid in both the chemocline waters and in benthic mats. Green sulfur bacteria and their primary pigment Bchl e are also represented in and below the chemocline. However, the water column and sediments are devoid of the green sulfur bacteria carotenoid isorenieratene. The unexpected absence of isorenieratene and apparent benthic production of okenone provide strong rationale for continued exploration of the microbial ecology of biomarker production in modern euxinic environments.

Community structure of subsurface biofilms in the thermal sulfidic caves ofAcquasanta Terme, Italy.

We performed a microbial community analysis of biofilms inhabiting thermal (35 to 50 degrees C) waters more than 60 m below the ground surface near Acquasanta Terme, Italy. The groundwater hosting the biofilms has 400 to 830 microM sulfide, <10 microM O(2), pH of 6.3 to 6.7, and specific conductivity of 8,500 to 10,500 microS/cm. Based on the results of 16S rRNA gene cloning and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), the biofilms have low species richness, and lithoautotrophic (or possibly mixotrophic) Gamma- and Epsilonproteobacteria are the principle biofilm architects. Deltaproteobacteria sequences retrieved from the biofilms have <90% 16S rRNA similarity to their closest relatives in public databases and may represent novel sulfate-reducing bacteria. The Acquasanta biofilms share few species in common with Frasassi cave biofilms (13 degrees C, 80 km distant) but have a similar community structure, with representatives in the same major clades. The ecological success of Sulfurovumales-group Epsilonproteobacteria in the Acquasanta biofilms is consistent with previous observations of their dominance in sulfidic cave waters with turbulent water flow and high dissolved sulfide/oxygen ratios.