CO2 Uptake and Fixation by a Thermoacidophilic Microbial Community Attached to Precipitated Sulfur in a Geothermal Spring
Eric S. Boyd, William D. Leavitt, and Gill G. Geesey
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2009
Abstract
Carbon fixation at temperatures above 73°C, the upper limit for photosynthesis, is carried out by chemosynthetic
thermophiles. Yellowstone National Park (YNP), Wyoming possesses many thermal features that, while too hot for
photosynthesis, presumably support chemosynthetic-based carbon fixation. To our knowledge, in situ rates of
chemosynthetic reactions at these high temperatures in YNP or other high-temperature terrestrial geothermal
springs have not yet been reported. A microbial community attached to precipitated elemental sulfur (So floc) at the
source of Dragon Spring (73°C, pH 3.1) in Norris Geyser Basin, YNP, exhibited a maximum rate of CO2 uptake of
21.3 ± 11.9 µg of C 107 cells-1 h-1. When extrapolated over the estimated total quantity of So floc at the spring’s
source, the So floc-associated microbial community accounted for the uptake of 121 mg of C h-1 at this site. On a
per-cell basis, the rate was higher than that calculated for a photosynthetic mat microbial community dominated
by Synechococcus spp. in alkaline springs at comparable temperatures. A portion of the carbon taken up as CO2 by
the So floc-associated biomass was recovered in the cellular nucleic acid pool, demonstrating that uptake was
coupled to fixation. The most abundant sequences in a 16S rRNA clone library of the So floc-associated community
were related to chemolithoautotrophic Hydrogenobaculum strains previously isolated from springs in the Norris
Geyser Basin. These microorganisms likely contributed to the uptake and fixation of CO2 in this geothermal habitat.
NOTE: the article text supplied here is for educational purposes only.
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