Cyanobacterial life at low O 2 : community genomics and function reveal metabolic versatility and extremely low diversity in a Great Lakes sinkhole mat

Cyanobacteria are renowned as the mediators of Earth’s oxygenation. However, little is known about the cyanobacterial communities that flourished under the low‐O 2 conditions that characterized most of their evolutionary history. Microbial mats in the submerged Middle Island Sinkhole of Lake Huron provide opportunities to investigate cyanobacteria under such persistent low‐O 2 conditions. Here, venting groundwater rich in sulfate and low in O 2 supports a unique benthic ecosystem of purple‐colored cyanobacterial mats. Beneath the mat is a layer of carbonate that is enriched in calcite and to a lesser extent dolomite. In situ benthic metabolism chambers revealed that the mats are net sinks for O 2 , suggesting primary production mechanisms other than oxygenic photosynthesis. Indeed, 14 C‐bicarbonate uptake studies of autotrophic production show variable contributions from oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis and chemosynthesis, presumably because of supply of sulfide. These results suggest the presence of either facultatively anoxygenic cyanobacteria or a mix of oxygenic/anoxygenic types of cyanobacteria. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing revealed a remarkably low‐diversity mat community dominated by just one genotype most closely related to the cyanobacterium Phormidium autumnale , for which an essentially complete genome was reconstructed. Also recovered were partial genomes from a second genotype of Phormidium and several Oscillatoria . Despite the taxonomic simplicity, diverse cyanobacterial genes putatively involved in sulfur oxidation were identified, suggesting a diversity of sulfide physiologies. The dominant Phormidium genome reflects versatile metabolism and physiology that is specialized for a communal lifestyle under fluctuating redox conditions and light availability. Overall, this study provides genomic and physiologic insights into low‐O 2 cyanobacterial mat ecosystems that played crucial geobiological roles over long stretches of Earth history.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90535/1/j.1472-4669.2012.00322.x.pd

Potential aquifer vulnerability in regions down-gradient from uranium \u3ci\u3ein situ\u3c/i\u3e recovery (ISR) sites

Sandstone-hosted roll-front uranium ore deposits originate when U(VI) dissolved in groundwater is reduced and precipitated as insoluble U(IV) minerals. Groundwater redox geochemistry, aqueous complexation, and solute migration are important in leaching uranium from source rocks and transporting it in low concentrations to a chemical redox interface where it is deposited in an ore zone typically containing the uranium minerals uraninite, pitchblende, and/or coffinite; various iron sulfides; native selenium; clays; and calcite. In situ recovery (ISR) of uranium ores is a process of contacting the uranium mineral deposit with leaching and oxidizing (lixiviant) fluids via injection of the lixiviant into wells drilled into the subsurface aquifer that hosts uranium ore, while other extraction wells pump the dissolved uranium after dissolution of the uranium minerals. Environmental concerns during and after ISR include water quality degradation from: 1) potential excursions of leaching solutions away from the injection zone into down-gradient, underlying, or overlying aquifers; 2) potential migration of uranium and its decay products (e.g., Ra, Rn, Pb); and, 3) potential mobilization and migration of redox-sensitive trace metals (e.g., Fe, Mn, Mo, Se, V), metalloids (e.g., As), and anions (e.g., sulfate). This review describes the geochemical processes that control roll-front uranium transport and fate in groundwater systems, identifies potential aquifer vulnerabilities to ISR operations, identifies data gaps in mitigating these vulnerabilities, and discusses the hydrogeological characterization involved in developing a monitoring program