title: Activity and community structures of sulfate-reducing microorganisms in polar, temperate and tropical marine sediments.
abstract: Temperature has a fundamental impact on the metabolic rates of microorganisms and strongly influences microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycling in the environment. In this study, we examined the catabolic temperature response of natural communities of sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) in polar, temperate and tropical marine sediments. In short-term sediment incubation experiments with (35)S-sulfate, we demonstrated how the cardinal temperatures for sulfate reduction correlate with mean annual sediment temperatures, indicating specific thermal adaptations of the dominant SRM in each of the investigated ecosystems. The community structure of putative SRM in the sediments, as revealed by pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicons and phylogenetic assignment to known SRM taxa, consistently correlated with in situ temperatures, but not with sediment organic carbon concentrations or C:N ratios of organic matter. Additionally, several species-level SRM phylotypes of the class Deltaproteobacteria tended to co-occur at sites with similar mean annual temperatures, regardless of geographic distance. The observed temperature adaptations of SRM imply that environmental temperature is a major controlling variable for physiological selection and ecological and evolutionary differentiation of microbial communities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biogeochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robador
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Albert L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Joanna E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Sawicka
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.affiliation: School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Casey R J
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Hubert
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria.|Austrian Polar Research Institute, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loy
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience, Center for Geomicrobiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Bo Barker
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Jørgensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brüchert
mesh_terms: D020564:Deltaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D017753:Ecosystem; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010802:Phylogeny; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D013431:Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D013431:Sulfates