Eutrophication leads to the formation of a sulfide-rich deep-water layer in Lake Sevan, Armenia.

Lake Sevan is a meso-eutrophic water body, which was severely impacted by anthropogenic level decrease, pollution and eutrophication during the last century. Starting in the 1970s, these processes resulted in the formation of an oxygen-depleted hypolimnion during summer-autumn stratification of the lake. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that eutrophication of the lake leads not only to the full depletion of oxygen and nitrate in the hypolimnion but as well to the presence of sulfate-reducing microorganisms and toxic hydrogen sulfide. Concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in the hypolimnion of Major and Minor Sevan in October were as high as 9 and 39 µM, respectively. In October 2019, 66 % of lake's bottom was covered by sulfidic waters, while the fraction of sulfidic water volume reached 19 %. Values of δ34S for hypolimnetic sulfide are lower by only 7-12 ‰ compared to epilimnetic sulfate, while δ33S values of sulfide are similar to the δ33S values of sulfate. These isotopic fingerprints are not consistent with microbial sulfate reduction as the sole source of hydrogen sulfide in the hypolimnion. We attribute the formation of a sulfidic deep-water layer to a combination of microbial sulfate reduction in the water column and diffusion of hydrogen sulfide from the sediments.

Wastewater-based epidemiology as a novel assessment approach for population-level metal exposure.

Pollution by heavy metals and metalloids is detrimental to human health due to their toxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic effects. The traditional approach to assess the extent of environmental and occupational exposures of metals is human biomonitoring (HBM). This method has several limitations, including invasiveness, sampling bias, cost- and time-intensiveness, and ethical issues. This suggests the need for a more robust, non-invasive, epidemiological tool for assessment of exposure to metals and their public health effects. Recently, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been suggested and utilized as a novel approach to accurately determine the extent of exposure to multiple substances on the population level. We suggest the potential application of WBE to the study of metal exposure on the population level, including possible biomarkers for wastewater analysis of 10 metals belonging to three categories according to health effects and nutritional benefits, and its public health implications. Similar to previous studies of exposure to regulated or illegal drugs, unregulated legal substances, and pesticides, WBE can be applied to the study of metal exposure in a given community. Parental substance biomarkers (PSBs), metabolic substance biomarkers (MSBs), and non-substance biomarkers (NSBs) of 10 common metals are available for consideration in wastewater analysis. The use of WBE would allow for the interpretation of the relationship between metal exposure and population health, reveal synergistic effects of different health factors, and model public health risks under different scenarios.

An improved pyrite pretreatment protocol for kinetic and isotopic studies.

BACKGROUND: Pyrite is one of the most abundant and widespread of the sulfide minerals with a central role in biogeochemical cycles of iron and sulfur. Due to its diverse roles in the natural and anthropogenic sulfur cycle, pyrite has been extensively studied in various experimental investigations of the kinetics of its dissolution and oxidation, the isotopic fractionations associated with these reactions, the microbiological processes involved, and the effects of pyrite on human health. Elemental sulfur (S0) is a common product of incomplete pyrite oxidation. Preexisting S0 impurities as unaccounted reaction products are a source of experimental uncertainty, as are adhered fine grains of pyrite and its oxidation products. Removal of these impurities is, therefore, desirable. A robust standardized pretreatment protocol for removal of fine particles and oxidation impurities from pyrite is lacking. Here we describe a protocol for S0 and fine particle removal from the surface of pyrite by rinsing in acid followed by repeated ultrasonication with warm acetone. RESULTS: Our data demonstrate the presence of large fractions of S0 on untreated pyrite particle surfaces, of which only up to 60% was removed by a commonly used pretreatment method described by Moses et al. (GCA 51:1561-1571, 1987). In comparison, after pretreatment by the protocol proposed here, approximately 98% S0 removal efficiency was achieved. Additionally, the new procedure was more efficient at removal of fine particles of adhered pyrite and its oxidation products and did not appear to affect the particle size distribution, the specific surface area, or the properties of grain surfaces. CONCLUSIONS: The suggested pyrite pretreatment protocol is more efficient in removal of impurities from pyrite grains, and provides multiple advantages for both kinetic and isotopic investigations of pyrite transformations under various environmental conditions.

Effect of sulfide on growth of marine bacteria.

Severe hypoxia leads to excess production of hydrogen sulfide in marine environments. In this study, we examined the effect of sulfide on growth of four facultative anaerobic marine bacteria in minimal media under anaerobic conditions. The Gram-negative chemolithoautotrophic Marinobacter sp. tolerated sulfide concentrations up to 0.60 mM, with doubling and lag times increasing as a function of increasing sulfide concentration but with no change in maximum culture yields; growth did not occur at 1.2 mM sulfide. Similar results were obtained for the metabolically diverse Gram-negative denitrifying Pseudomonas stutzeri, except that growth occurred at 1.2 mM and culture yields at 0.60 and 1.2 mM sulfide were approximately 10-fold lower than at sulfide concentrations between 0 and 0.30 mM. Increases in doubling and lag times accompanied by an overall 10-fold decrease in maximum culture yields were found for the Gram-negative chemoheterotrophic Vibrio sp. at all sulfide concentrations tested. In contrast, growth of a Gram-positive chemoheterotrophic Bacillus sp. was resistant to all sulfide concentrations tested (0.15-1.2 mM). Our results highlight the variable responses of marine bacteria to sulfide and provide some insight into shifts that may occur in microbial community structure and diversity as a consequence of changes in sulfide levels that are the result of hypoxia.

Use of UASB reactors for brackish aquaculture sludge digestion under different conditions.

Treatment and disposal of high volume of salty waste production in recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs) is a major challenge and the sludge is often a source of environmental pollution and salinization of receiving soils and water bodies. Anaerobic digestion is an efficient mean for the treatment of wastes of different origins and might serve a useful tool for the reduction of salty aquaculture discharge load. Use of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for digestion of brackish aquaculture sludge from RASs under different C:N ratios, temperatures, and hydraulic retention times demonstrated high removal efficiencies of over 92% as volatile solids (VS), 98% as chemical oxygen demand and 81% as total suspended solids in all reactors. Methane production topped 7.1 mL/gVS d and was limited by low C:N ratio but was not influenced by temperature fluctuations. The treated liquid effluent from all reactors was of sufficient quality for reuse in the RAS, leading to significant water recycling and saving rates. UASB may be an attractive solution for brackish sludge management in RASs.

Microbial diversity of biological filters in recirculating aquaculture systems.

Development of environmentally sustainable farming of marine and freshwater species using recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs) requires a complete understanding of the biological component involved in wastewater treatment. This component integrates biofilters composed of microbial communities whose structure, dynamics, and activities are responsible for system success. Engineering highly efficient, environmentally sound, disease-free, and economically viable systems necessitates a thorough knowledge of microbial processes involved in all facets of RAS biofilters and has only recently been the focus of comprehensive studies. These studies have included the application of molecular tools to characterize community diversity and have identified key processes useful for improving system performance. In this paper we summarize the current understanding of the microbial diversity and physiology of RAS biofilters and discuss directions for future studies.

Modification of the biophysical characteristics of membranes in commensal Escherichia coli strains from breast cancer patients.

Escherichia coli G35 N49 strain, from the gut of breast cancer patients, in comparison with the E. coli G35 N61 strain, from the gut of healthy people, shows in vitro reduction in growth rates and maximal growth yield. The changes in certain membrane characteristics, such as low membrane potential and disturbance in intramembrane interaction of H+ -ATPase F0F1 with the TrkA system, indicate a dysfunction in ion transport and enzymatic activity. These changes can be detected during fermentation and in anaerobic conditions (in the gut, for example) and may be influenced by unfavorable conditions in the gut of cancer patients.