Scholarly Work - Earth Sciences
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/8747
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Item Aerobic and Anaerobic Thiosulfate Oxidation by a Cold-Adapted, Subglacial Chemoautotroph(2015-12) Harrold, Zoe R.; Skidmore, Mark L.; Hamilton, Trinity L.; Desch, Elizabeth; Kirina, Amada; van Gelder, Will; Glover, Kevin; Roden, Eric E.; Boyd, Eric S.Geochemical data indicate that protons released during pyrite (FeS2) oxidation are important drivers of mineral weathering in oxic and anoxic zones of many aquatic environments including those beneath glaciers. Oxidation of FeS2 under oxic, circumneutral conditions proceeds through the metastable intermediate thiosulfate (S2O32-), which represents an electron donor capable of supporting microbial metabolism. Subglacial meltwaters sampled from Robertson Glacier (RG), Canada over a seasonal melt cycle reveal concentrations of S2O32- that are typically below detection despite the presence of available pyrite and several orders of magnitude higher concentrations of the FeS2 oxidation product sulfate (SO42-). Here we report the physiological and genomic characterization of the chemolithoautotrophic facultative anaerobe Thiobacillus sp. RG5 isolated from the subglacial environment at RG. The RG5 genome encodes pathways for the complete oxidation of S2O32-, CO2 fixation, and aerobic and anaerobic respiration with nitrite or nitrate. Growth experiments indicate that the energy required to synthesize a cell under oxygen or nitrate reducing conditions with S2O32- as electron donor was lower at 5.1 °C than 14.4 °C, indicating that this organism is cold-adapted. RG sediment-associated soxB transcripts, which encode a component of the S2O32--oxidizing complex, were closely affiliated to soxB from RG5. Collectively, these results suggest an active sulfur cycle in the subglacial environment at RG mediated in part by populations closely affiliated with RG5. Microbial consumption of S2O32- by RG5-like populations may accelerate abiotic FeS2 oxidation thereby enhancing mineral weathering in the subglacial environment.Item Chemolithotrophic primary production in a subglacial ecosystem(2014-10) Boyd, Eric S.; Hamilton, Trinity L.; Havig, Jeff R.; Skidmore, Mark L.; Shock, Everett L.Glacial comminution of bedrock generates fresh mineral surfaces capable of sustaining chemotrophic microbial communities under the dark conditions that pervade subglacial habitats. Geochemical and isotopic evidence suggests that pyrite oxidation is a dominant weathering process generating protons that drive mineral dissolution in many subglacial systems. Here, we provide evidence correlating pyrite oxidation with chemosynthetic primary productivity and carbonate dissolution in subglacial sediments sampled from Robertson Glacier (RG), Alberta, Canada. Quantification and sequencing of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) transcripts suggest that populations closely affiliated with Sideroxydans lithotrophicus, an iron sulfide-oxidizing autotrophic bacterium, are abundant constituents of microbial communities at RG. Microcosm experiments indicate sulfate production during biological assimilation of radiolabeled bicarbonate. Geochemical analyses of subglacial meltwater indicate that increases in sulfate levels are associated with increased calcite and dolomite dissolution. Collectively, these data suggest a role for biological pyrite oxidation in driving primary productivity and mineral dissolution in a subglacial environment and provide the first rate estimate for bicarbonate assimilation in these ecosystems. Evidence for lithotrophic primary production in this contemporary subglacial environment provides a plausible mechanism to explain how subglacial communities could be sustained in near-isolation from the atmosphere during glacial-interglacial cycles.