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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Heavy Metals in the Environment

Ecology of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria in an Iron-Dominated, Mining-Impacted Freshwater Sediment

^a Division of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812-4824
^b Dep. of Geology, Univ. of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812
^c Dep. of Plant Soil & Entomological Sciences, Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844

^* Corresponding author (Frank.Rosenzweig{at}mso.umt.edu).

Received for publication October 31, 2007. A legacy of lead and silver mining in its headwaters left Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with a sediment body that is highly reduced and contains up to 100 g kg^–1 iron and a smaller fraction of chemically active sulfide phases. The dynamic character of these sulfides and their importance for the sequestering of contaminating trace elements prompted this study of the sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) involved in their production. We estimated parameters indicative of the distribution and activity of SRB in relation to season, site, and depth. Most probable number estimates and quantitative PCR assays of an SRB-specific functional gene, -adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate reductase, indicated 10³ to 10⁶ cultivable cells and 10⁵ to 10⁷ gene copy numbers g^–1 dry wt sediment, respectively. Although culture-based estimates of SRB abundance correlated poorly with site, season, depth, total S, or pore water SO₄, non–culture-based estimates of SRB abundance were markedly higher at contaminated sites and positively correlated with pore water SO₄. Ex situ estimates of ³⁵SO₄ respiration and acid volatile sulfides abundance also showed strong among-site effects, indicating elevated sulfidogenesis at contaminated sites. These observations support the view that biogenic sulfides may act in concert with reduced iron to retain soluble metal(loid)s in the solid phase.

Abbreviations: APS, adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate reductase • AVS, acid volatile sulfides • CDA, Coeur d'Alene • HP, Harlow Point • MPN, most probable number • PP, Peaceful Point • qPCR, quantitative polymerase chain reaction • SJ, Saint Joe River • SOX, sulfur oxidizers • SRB, sulfate-reducing bacteria • SRP, sulfate reduction potential

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				H. Sass, S. Ramamoorthy, C. Yarwood, H. Langner, P. Schumann, R. M. Kroppenstedt, S. Spring, and R. F. Rosenzweig Desulfovibrio idahonensis sp. nov., sulfate-reducing bacteria isolated from a metal(loid)-contaminated freshwater sediment Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, September 1, 2009; 59(9): 2208 - 2214. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]