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Cable bacteria associated with long‐distance electron transport in N ew E ngland salt marsh sediment
Author(s) -
Larsen Steffen,
Nielsen Lars Peter,
Schramm Andreas
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental microbiology reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.229
H-Index - 69
ISSN - 1758-2229
DOI - 10.1111/1758-2229.12216
Subject(s) - salt marsh , sediment , marsh , bacteria , sulfide , dominance (genetics) , sulfur , estuary , environmental chemistry , sulfate , sulfate reducing bacteria , oceanography , chemistry , environmental science , ecology , biology , geology , geomorphology , paleontology , biochemistry , wetland , organic chemistry , gene
Summary Filamentous D esulfobulbaceae have been proposed as ‘cable bacteria’, which electrically couple sulfide oxidation and oxygen reduction in marine sediment and thereby create a centimetre‐deep suboxic zone. We incubated N ew E ngland salt marsh sediment and found long‐distance electron transport across 6 mm and 16S rRNA genes identical to those of previously observed cable bacteria in A arhus B ay sediment incubations. Cable bacteria density in sediment cores was quantified by fluorescence in situ hybridization. In contrast to the coastal, subtidal sediments with short‐termed blooms of cable bacteria based on rapidly depleted iron sulfide pools, the salt marsh cable community was based on ongoing sulfate reduction and therefore probably more persistent. Previously observed seasonal correlation between D esulfobulbaceae dominance and extensive reduced sulfur oxidation in salt marshes suggest that cable bacteria at times may have an important role in situ .