|
|
|
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2003, p . 6000-6006, Vol . 69, No . 10 Compound-Specific Isotopic Fractionation Patterns Suggest Different Carbon Metabolisms among Chloroflexus-Like Bacteria in Hot-Spring Microbial Mats
|
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
Stable carbon isotope fractionations between dissolved inorganic carbon and lipid biomarkers suggest photoautotrophy by Chloroflexus-like organisms in sulfidic and nonsulfidic Yellowstone hot springs . Where co-occurring, cyanobacteria appear to cross-feed Chloroflexus-like organisms supporting photoheterotrophy as well, although the relatively small 13C fractionation associated with cyanobacterial sugar biosynthesis may sometimes obscure this process .
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
Chloroflexus aurantiacus and its phylogenetic relatives, which comprise a deeply branching kingdom-level lineage in the domain Bacteria (24), are major components of photosynthetic microbial mats in both sulfidic and nonsulfidic hot springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo . (3, 4, 5, 12, 23, 47) . C . aurantiacus, the most studied representative of the green nonsulfur bacteria available in pure cultures, can grow heterotrophically by aerobic respiration, photoheterotrophically (using light to incorporate prereduced organic compounds), and photoautotrophically (using light to fix inorganic carbon) (26) . Photoautotrophic metabolism by an obligately phototrophic relative of C . aurantiacus, the predominant phototroph in sulfidic hot-spring microbial mats, has been reported (12) . However, based on culture (25, 26) and radiolabeling studies (2, 32), it has been hypothesized (44) that Chloroflexus-like organisms are mainly photoheterotrophic in mats where they live together with cyanobacteria . In such mats cyanobacteria are thought to be the main primary producers, which cross-feed reduced organic compounds to Chloroflexus-like organisms, thus supporting their photoheterotrophic metabolism . We exploited the distinctive lipid biomarkers of cyanobacteria and Chloroflexus-like organisms to test this hypothesis (39) . If Chloroflexus-like organisms were purely photoheterotrophic in cyanobacterial mats, their biomarkers should have a
13C signature, similar to biomarkers of cyanobacteria . Lipids derived from cyanobacteria in hot-spring mats were found to have
13C values typical of the -20 to -25
fractionations relative to the inorganic carbon source expected of the Calvin cycle (27, 31) . However, long-chain polyunsaturated alkenes (e.g., the C31:3 alkene hentriacontatriene) and C30-37 wax esters that are typical of Chloroflexus (17, 35, 40) and mats containing Chloroflexus relatives (9, 35, 37, 39) were approximately 10 to 15
enriched in 13C relative to cyanobacterial lipids (37, 39) . Such values are expected based on autotrophic metabolism by Chloroflexus, which is known to use an inorganic carbon fixation pathway, the 3-hydroxypropionate pathway (15), that imparts an unusually heavy
13C signature to both biomass and lipids (16, 40) . Thus, the enrichment in 13C of Chloroflexus lipids relative to cyanobacterial lipids in microbial mats pointed towards autotrophic growth of Chloroflexus-like organisms in hot-spring microbial mats (39) .
Here, we examine an alternative explanationChloroflexus-like biomarkers could have heavy
13C signatures because they are cross-fed isotopically heavy fixed organic matter from cyanobacteria . Radiolabeling studies have shown that light-driven CO2 fixation in hot-spring cyanobacterial mats leads mainly to production of polysaccharides (18, 22), presumably by cyanobacteria, and the polysaccharides are fermented during darkness to short-chain fatty acids known to be photoassimilated by Chloroflexus-like organisms (2, 23, 32) . It has been shown that sugars may be significantly enriched in 13C relative to lipids in cyanobacteria and other Calvin cycle photoautotrophs (7, 43) . Hence, we now have significantly expanded our previous study by investigating not only the
13C signatures of lipid biomarkers and biomass but also sugars and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) species to enable determination of isotopic fractionations . Furthermore, we included more representatives of mats where cyanobacteria and Chloroflexus-like organisms live together in different environments, thereby enabling us to better observe differences in isotopic fractionation patterns .
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
|---|
Samples were taken from five different hot-spring microbial mats containing Chloroflexus-like bacteria with and without cyanobacteria located in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo . (Table 1) . Samples for lipid analysis were frozen in the field and were kept frozen until lyophilization and lipid extraction . Samples for microscopy were stored on ice and directly analyzed after returning from the field . The presence of cyanobacteria and Chloroflexus-like bacteria was determined by phase contrast and autofluorescence microscopy . Water samples for sulfide analysis were collected from above each mat, preserved in zinc acetate, and analyzed by the method of Cline (6) . Inorganic carbon in water overflowing mats was trapped as BaCO3 by increasing the pH of 200 ml of spring water to approximately pH 11 by adding a saturated NaOH solution (pH 13) and solid BaCl2 (36) . From the stable carbon isotopic composition of the BaCO3, the isotopic composition of the CO2 in the spring water was calculated using the temperature-dependent isotopic equilibrium equation of Mook et al . (21) .
|
Lipids were extracted, derivatized, and analyzed by using gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and isotope-ratio-monitoring gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (33) . Cell-associated sugars were analyzed by using approximately 20 to 160 mg of microbial mat residue after lipid extraction . This material was hydrolyzed, and sugar monomers were derivatized and analyzed by gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and isotope-ratio-monitoring gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (42) . Stable carbon isotopic compositions of the bulk cell material and BaCO3 were determined by automated on-line combustion (Carlo Erba CN analyser 1502 series) followed by conventional isotope ratio-mass spectrometry (Fisons optima [11]) . The stable carbon isotope compositions are reported in the delta notation relative to the Vienna PeeDee Belemnite 13C standard .
| RESULTS AND DISCUSSION |
|---|
The mat samples studied are compared in Table 1 . The New Mound Annex (NMA) mat, found in a sulfidic, high-carbonate hot spring at Mammoth Terraces, is comprised of Chloroflexus without cyanobacteria (39) . The sulfide is thought to poison cyanobacteria but is utilized by Chloroflexus spp . in a photoautotrophic metabolism (12) . All other mats are comprised of both cyanobacteria (Synechococcus) and Chloroflexus-like filamentous bacteria . The Tangerine Spring mat, like the downstream NMA mat (39), occurs in a slightly acidic, high-carbonate spring in the Mammoth Terraces group, where sulfide levels have been reduced due to its use by Chloroflexus spp . and other upstream sulfide-utilizing organisms . The Octopus Spring and Mushroom Spring mats occur in low-sulfide, alkaline silica-rich springs of the Lower Geyser Basin .
Lipid and sugar composition.
The lipid compositions of the five mat samples are compared in Fig . 1 and Table 2, which also includes information for cultures of C . aurantiacus and its phylogenetic relative, Roseiflexus castenholzii (13), for reference . Lipids characteristic of Chloroflexus-like organisms were abundant in all mats . For instance, wax esters ranging from C31 to C37 were among the predominant lipids in all mats, with small-scale variation in distribution pattern among mat samples . Differences in the carbon skeletons of the wax esters between the environmental samples and the cultures may reflect physiological differences between cultivated and natural populations . For instance, the different mat systems do not contain monounsaturated wax esters as does C . aurantiacus but rather contain iso-branched wax esters (35, 39) . Also, the mats contain C31 to C37 wax esters, whereas R . castenholzii produces C37 to C40 wax esters (41) . Long-chain (C29-32) alkenes, predominantly hentriacontatriene (C31:3) (38), were abundant in mats in Mammoth Terraces springs but were present at only trace levels in mats from the Lower Geyser Basin . This may reflect the predominance of Chloroflexus spp . in Mammoth Terraces (46) and more distantly related Roseiflexus-like organisms in springs of the Lower Geyser Basin (23, 30), since the latter organism lacks hentriacontatriene (41) . C17 n-alkane, a biomarker for cyanobacteria (34), was found in all mats containing cyanobacteria but was absent from the NMA source mat . More common lipids, such as C15-18 fatty acids and C17-18 alcohols, were also detected in all mats .
|
|
The sugar fractions of all mats contained arabinose, xylose, rhamnose, and glucose, the latter being dominant (approximately 30 to 80% of the sugar fraction) . The sugar distribution was similar to that reported for C . aurantiacus (40) .
Stable carbon isotopic compositions.
The isotopic compositions of DIC, bulk biomass, lipids, and sugars for all mats are reported in Table 3 . The values for DIC species determined for Tangerine Spring was within the range previously reported for other Mammoth Terraces hot springs (19) . The values for Mushroom Spring were somewhat lower . Isotopic composition of bulk biomass ranged from -13 to -17
, except for the NMA downstream and Tangarine Spring mats, which were isotopically lighter (-24 and -25
, respectively) . Isotopic compositions of specific lipids ranged from -8.9 to -36.3
. Compounds known from or possibly contributed by cyanobacteria (e.g., C17 n-alkane and C16 and C18 fatty acids, respectively) were isotopically lighter (-21.3 to -36.3
) than biomarkers of Chloroflexus-like organisms (C31:3 and wax esters; -8.9 to -27.0
) . The isotopic composition of glucose ranged from -5.1 to -21.8
. Isotopic compositions in cyanobacterial mats were generally more depleted in 13C in springs from Mammoth Terraces (Tangerine and NMA downstream) than in springs from the Lower Geyser Basin (Octopus Spring and Mushroom Spring) .
|
Comparison of 13C fractionation in mats and cultures.
Isotopic fractionations between bicarbonate, the principle DIC species, and bulk biomass, lipids, and glucose for all mat samples and C . aurantiacus are compared in Fig . 2 . The 13C fractionations between biomass, lipids, and glucose relative to DIC are similar for the photoautotrophically grown C . aurantiacus culture and the Chloroflexus spp.-dominated NMA source pool microbial mat (Fig . 2) . The smallest 13C fractionation relative to DIC (![]()
13CDIC) was observed for glucose, followed by hentriacontatriene, the bulk cell material, the fatty acids, and wax esters . This confirms earlier observations of Chloroflexus photoautotrophy in these high-sulfide, Chloroflexus-dominated microbial mats (12, 39) and shows that carbon isotopic observations made in culture experiments can be extended to environmental settings .
|
Chloroflexus biomarkers showed much larger fractionation relative to DIC in the two high-carbonate mats (NMA downstream and Tangerine Spring) where they live together with cyanobacteria (Fig . 2) . This indicates that Chloroflexus-like organisms are not purely autotrophic in these cyanobacterial mats . Some isotopically lighter carbon must be obtained from an alternative source . The large
![]()
13CDIC for the cyanobacterial biomarker C17 n-alkane suggests cyanobacteria as a possible source for this light carbon . We considered whether cyanobacterial glucose synthesis and fermentation coupled with cross-feeding could explain the observed isotopic fractionation patterns . The
![]()
13CDIC of glucose in these two high-carbonate mats is smaller than that observed for the cyanobacterial biomarker, C17 n-alkane, consistent with the possibility that cyanobacterial glucose biosynthesis imparts a heavier isotopic signature than lipid biosynthesis (7, 43) . However, even in the unlikely event that all of the glucose detected was from cyanobacteria and Chloroflexus derived all of its carbon from cyanobacterial sugar fermentation, the
13C value for all Chloroflexus biomarkers should be lower than the
13C of glucose, due to isotopic effects of subsequent lipid biosynthesis pathways (1, 14, 20) . The fact that the
13C value of the C31:3 alkane is higher than (NMA downstream) or similar to (Tangarine Spring) that of glucose and that the
13C value of wax esters (NMA downstream) is similar to that of glucose therefore suggests that cyanobacterial cross-feeding alone is unlikely to explain the observed results . Apparently, photoautotrophy is also occurring in Chloroflexus spp . in these mats . This could reflect either the inputs of separate heterotrophic and autotrophic Chloroflexus populations or mixotrophic carbon metabolism in a single Chloroflexus population . Since both cyanobacteria and Chloroflexus-like organisms contribute organic compounds to the mats, the
13C values for the bulk biomass and glucose must be intermediate to cyanobacterial and autotrophic Chloroflexus isotope signatures .
Relative to the Mammoth Terraces cyanobacterial mats, the two mats in alkaline siliceous springs show smaller
![]()
13CDIC values (Fig . 2) . The fractionation pattern of the bulk biomass, glucose, Chloroflexus biomarkers, and more general lipids resembles that of the autotrophically grown C . aurantiacus culture and the NMA source pool mat, suggesting the possibility of photoautotrophic metabolism by Chloroflexus relatives . However, in these mats the
13C values of glucose are sufficiently heavy to support the hypothesis that cyanobacterial sugar biosynthesis imparts a heavier isotopic signature to sugars than to lipids; cross-feeding of sugar fermentation products could then impart the heavier signatures of Chloroflexus biomarkers . A complicating factor in Octopus Spring and Mushroom Spring could be the effect of CO2 limitation on stable carbon isotope fractionation by cyanobacteria in these much more alkaline and lower-DIC settings (8) . The Mammoth Terraces mats occur in carbonate-depositing springs that are high in DIC and, at pH 6.4, are poised near the pKa of H2CO3/HCO3- (i.e., CO2 is readily available) . In contrast, the mats in alkaline silicious springs of the Lower Geyser Basin have midday pHs as high as 9.4, approaching the pKa of HCO3-/CO32- (29) . CO2 limitation in these alkaline silicious hot springs may decrease the degree of isotopic fractionation by cyanobacteria, resulting in higher
13C values for all organic compounds produced by cyanobacteria, including the C17 n-alkane and glucose . However, the very large differentials in
13C values of C17 n-alkane and glucose (18 to 22.4
) exceed those observed so far in Calvin cycle organisms (1 to 16
[43]) . This large isotopic difference between the cyanobacterial biomarker and glucose, especially in combination with very small or no isotopic fractionation between CO2 and glucose, makes it unlikely that all of the glucose is derived from cyanobacteria even when the possible effect of CO2 limitation on the stable carbon isotope ratios of cyanobacterial products is considered . The high abundance of Chloroflexus biomarkers (i.e., wax esters) relative to cyanobacterial biomarkers (i.e., C17 n-alkane) (Fig . 1) and the heavier isotopic signatures of C16 and C18 fatty acids (Table 3), which could be contributed by either type of phototroph (10, 17, 35, 40), indeed suggest that a large fraction of the total biomass might be Chloroflexus derived . This might be due to our analysis of thicker mat samples (i.e., >1 cm for Lower Geyser Basin mats versus 1 to 2 mm for Mammoth Terraces mats) and the persistence of Chloroflexus carbohydrates in deeper layers of the mats in alkaline siliceous springs (39) .
By comparing isotopic compositions of compound classes from replicate cyanobacterial mats from different hot-spring settings, we were able to observe that both autotrophic and heterotrophic carbon metabolisms are employed by Chloroflexus-like bacteria . Heavier isotopic signatures of Chloroflexus-like bacteria may be due in part to their unique autotrophic biochemistry and in part to the differences in isotopic fractionation in sugar and lipid biosynthetic pathways of cyanobacteria . Further work will be necessary, however, in order to observe the degree to which cyanobacterial sugar biosynthesis affects isotopic compositions and, thus, the relative importance of heterotrophy (via cross-feeding from cyanobacteria) and autotrophy in the carbon metabolism of Chloroflexus-like bacteria in these mats . This is especially true of mats in alkaline siliceous springs, where CO2 limitation effects make resolution of the two types of carbon metabolism more difficult .
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
We thank M . M . Bateson and B . Lindstrom for help with field work and R . Pancost, B . E . van Dongen, W . I . C . Rijpstra, M . Baas, R . Kloosterhuis, and J . Ossebaar for analytical assistance . We thank The U.S . National Park Service for permission to conduct research in Yellowstone National Park .
This study was supported by U.S . National Aeronautics and Space Administration grants NAGW-2764 and NAG5-3652 and a PIONIER grant awarded to J . S . Sinninghe Damsté by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) . We also thank NWO for supporting travel of M . T . J . van der Meer . We thank Shell International Petroleum Maatschappij BV for financial support for the GC-irMS facility .
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
* Corresponding author . Mailing address: Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Biogeochemistry and Toxicology, P.O . Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands . Phone: (31) 222-369565 . Fax: (31) 222-319674 . E-mail: mmeer{at}nioz.nl .
NIOZ contribution no . 3630; journal series no . 2003-27, Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, Montana State UniversityBozeman .
| REFERENCES |
|---|
What Is Anthrax?,
What Is Molecular Microbiology?,
What Is Antibiotic?,
What Is Rhizobia?,
What Is Biofilm?,
n,
Microbes,
s,
Bacteriology,
a,
Microorganism,
c,
Microbe,
c,
Microbiology,
a,
Erwinia,
r,
Neisseria,
c,
Activated sludge,
a,
Bacillus,
c,
Vancomycin,
r,
Cell cultures,
s,
Candida albicans,
o,
Escherichia coli,
o,
Vibriosis,
o,
Escherichia coli,
c,
Yeasts,
o,
Cell cultures,
s,
Escherichia coli,
e,
Yeasts,
r,
Biodegradation,
c,
Klebsiella,
e,
Escherichia coli,
a,
Bactericidal,
r,
Staphylococcus,
s,
Escherichia coli,
n,
Salmonella
© 2005
Transgalactic Ltd (manufacturer of Bioscreen C software) |
Privacy Statement | P.O. Box
1393, 00101 Helsinki, Finland,
Last modified: May 25, 2005
| ||||||