Long-distance electron transport occurs globally in marine sediments
Recently, long filamentous bacteria have been reported conducting electrons over centimetre distances in marine sediments. These so-called cable bacteria perform an electrogenic form of sulfur oxidation, whereby long-distance electron transport links sulfide oxidation in deeper sediment horizons to...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-02-01
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| Series: | Biogeosciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.biogeosciences.net/14/683/2017/bg-14-683-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | Recently, long filamentous bacteria have been reported conducting electrons over centimetre distances in marine sediments. These
so-called cable bacteria perform an electrogenic form of sulfur
oxidation, whereby long-distance electron transport links sulfide oxidation
in deeper sediment horizons to oxygen reduction in the upper millimetres of
the sediment. Electrogenic sulfur oxidation exerts a strong impact on the
local sediment biogeochemistry, but it is currently unknown how prevalent
the process is within the seafloor. Here we provide a state-of-the-art
assessment of its global distribution by combining new field observations
with previous reports from the literature. This synthesis demonstrates that
electrogenic sulfur oxidation, and hence microbial long-distance electron
transport, is a widespread phenomenon in the present-day seafloor. The
process is found in coastal sediments within different climate zones (off
the Netherlands, Greenland, the USA, Australia) and thrives on a range of
different coastal habitats (estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves, coastal
hypoxic basins, intertidal flats). The combination of a widespread
occurrence and a strong local geochemical imprint suggests that electrogenic
sulfur oxidation could be an important, and hitherto overlooked, component
of the marine cycle of carbon, sulfur and other elements. |
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| ISSN: | 1726-4170 1726-4189 |