Related assemblages of sulphate-reducing bacteria associated with ultradeep gold mines of South Africa and deep basalt aquifers of Washington State.
We characterized the diversity of sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) associated with South African gold mine boreholes and deep aquifer systems in Washington State, USA. Sterile cartridges filled with crushed country rock were installed on two hydrologically isolated and chemically distinct sites at depths of 3.2 and 2.7 km below the land surface (kmbls) to allow development of biofilms. Enrichments of sulphate-reducing chemolithotrophic (H2) and organotrophic (lactate) bacteria were established from each site under both meso- and thermophilic conditions. Dissimilatory sulphite reductase (Dsr) and 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes amplified from DNA extracted from the cartridges were most closely related to the Gram-positive species Desulfotomaculum thermosapovorans and Desulfotomaculum geothermicum, or affiliated with a novel deeply branching clade. The dsr sequences recovered from the Washington State deep aquifer systems affiliated closely with the South African sequences, suggesting that Gram-positive sulphate-reducing bacteria are widely distributed in the deep subsurface.
Baker
Brett J
BJ
Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 3209 N. Maryland Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA.
Moser
Duane P
DP
MacGregor
Barbara J
BJ
Fishbain
Susan
S
Wagner
Michael
M
Fry
Norman K
NK
Jackson
Brad
B
Speolstra
Nico
N
Loos
Steffen
S
Takai
Ken
K
Lollar
Barbara Sherwood
BS
Fredrickson
Jim
J
Balkwill
David
D
Onstott
Tullis C
TC
Wimpee
Charles F
CF
Stahl
David A
DA
D018441:Biofilms; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006046:Gold; D050885:Hydrogensulfite Reductase; D008903:Minerals; D008906:Mining; D050862:Oxidoreductases Acting on Sulfur Group Donors / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017640:Silicates; D013019:South Africa; D016999:Sulfur-Reducing Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D014861:Washington; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D014871:Water Microbiology
D008903:Minerals; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D017640:Silicates; C060346:basalt; D014867:Water; D006046:Gold; D050862:Oxidoreductases Acting on Sulfur Group Donors; D050885:Hydrogensulfite Reductase