TY - JOUR
T1 - Anaerobic ammonium-oxidising bacteria
T2 - A biological source of the bacteriohopanetetrol stereoisomer in marine sediments
AU - Rush, Darci
AU - Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S.
AU - Poulton, Simon W.
AU - Thamdrup, Bo
AU - Garside, A. Leigh
AU - Acuña González, Jenaro
AU - Schouten, Stefan
AU - Jetten, Mike S M
AU - Talbot, Helen M.
PY - 2014/9/1
Y1 - 2014/9/1
N2 - Bacterially-derived bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) are abundant, well preserved lipids in modern and paleo-environments. Bacteriohopanetetrol (BHT) is a ubiquitously produced BHP while its less common stereoisomer (BHT isomer) has previously been associated with anoxic environments; however, its biological source remained unknown. We investigated the occurrence of BHPs in Golfo Dulce, an anoxic marine fjord-like enclosure located in Costa Rica. The distribution of BHT isomer in four sediment cores and a surface sediment transect closely followed the distribution of ladderane fatty acids, unique biomarkers for bacteria performing anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). This suggests that BHT isomer and ladderane lipids likely shared the same biological source in Golfo Dulce. This was supported by examining the BHP lipid compositions of two enrichment cultures of a marine anammox species ('. Candidatus Scalindua profunda'), which were found to contain both BHT and BHT isomer. Remarkably, the BHT isomer was present in higher relative abundance than BHT. However, a non-marine anammox enrichment contained only BHT, which explains the infrequence of BHT isomer observations in terrestrial settings, and indicates that marine anammox bacteria are likely responsible for at least part of the environmentally-observed marine BHT isomer occurrences. Given the substantially greater residence time of BHPs in sediments, compared to ladderanes, BHT isomer is a potential biomarker for past anammox activity.
AB - Bacterially-derived bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) are abundant, well preserved lipids in modern and paleo-environments. Bacteriohopanetetrol (BHT) is a ubiquitously produced BHP while its less common stereoisomer (BHT isomer) has previously been associated with anoxic environments; however, its biological source remained unknown. We investigated the occurrence of BHPs in Golfo Dulce, an anoxic marine fjord-like enclosure located in Costa Rica. The distribution of BHT isomer in four sediment cores and a surface sediment transect closely followed the distribution of ladderane fatty acids, unique biomarkers for bacteria performing anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). This suggests that BHT isomer and ladderane lipids likely shared the same biological source in Golfo Dulce. This was supported by examining the BHP lipid compositions of two enrichment cultures of a marine anammox species ('. Candidatus Scalindua profunda'), which were found to contain both BHT and BHT isomer. Remarkably, the BHT isomer was present in higher relative abundance than BHT. However, a non-marine anammox enrichment contained only BHT, which explains the infrequence of BHT isomer observations in terrestrial settings, and indicates that marine anammox bacteria are likely responsible for at least part of the environmentally-observed marine BHT isomer occurrences. Given the substantially greater residence time of BHPs in sediments, compared to ladderanes, BHT isomer is a potential biomarker for past anammox activity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84902327297&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gca.2014.05.014
DO - 10.1016/j.gca.2014.05.014
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84902327297
SN - 0016-7037
VL - 140
SP - 50
EP - 64
JO - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
JF - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
ER -