1
|
Meng L, Zuo R, Brusseau ML, Wang JS, Liu X, Du C, Zhai Y, Teng Y. Groundwater pollution containing ammonium, iron and manganese in a riverbank filtration system: Effects of dynamic geochemical conditions and microbial responses. HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES 2020; 34:4175-4189. [PMID: 33414574 PMCID: PMC7785088 DOI: 10.1002/hyp.13856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Bench-scale experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of hydraulic loadings and influent concentration on the migration and biotransformation behavior of three groundwater pollutants: ammonium (NH4 +), iron (Fe2+) and manganese (Mn2+). Columns packed with aquifer media collected from a river bank filtration (RBF) site in Harbin City, NE China were introduced synthetic groundwater (SGW) or real groundwater (RGW) were at two different constant flow rates and initial contaminant concentrations to determine the impact of system conditions on the fate of the target pollutants biotransformation. The results showed that the biotransformation rate of Fe2+ Mn2+, and NH4 + decreased by 8%, 39% and 15% under high flow rate (50 L d-1) compared to low flow rate (25 L d-1), which was consistent with the residence-time effect. While the biotransformation rate of Fe2+ Mn2+, and NH4 + decreased by 7%, 14% and 9% under high influent concentration compared to original groundwater. The 16S rRNA analysis of the aquifer media at different depths after experiments completion demonstrated that the relative abundance of major functional microbes iron oxidizing bacteria (IOB) and manganese oxidizing bacteria (MnOB) under higher flow rate and higher influent concentration decreased 13%, 14% and 25%, 24%, respectively, whereas the ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) exhibited minimal change, compared to the lower flow rate. Above all results indicated that both high flow rate and high concentration inhibit the biotransformation of NH4 +, Fe2+ and Mn2+. The biotransformation of Fe2+ and Mn2+ occurs primarily in the 0-40 cm and 20-60 cm depth intervals, respectively, whereas the NH4 + biotransformation appears to occur relatively uniformly throughout the whole 110cm column. The biotransformation kinetics of NH4 + in RGW and SGW, Mn2+ in RGW at different depths accords with the first order kinetics model, while Fe2+ in RGW and SGW, Mn2+ in SGW presented more complicated biotransformation process. The results should improve understanding of the transport and fate of common groundwater pollutants in riverbank filtration and other groundwater recharge environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Li Meng
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Rui Zuo
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Mark L Brusseau
- Department of Soil Water and Environmental Science, The University of Arizona
| | - Jin-Sheng Wang
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xin Liu
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Can Du
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yuanzheng Zhai
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yanguo Teng
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Meng L, Zuo R, Wang JS, Yang J, Li Q, Chen M. The spatial variations of correlation between microbial diversity and groundwater quality derived from a riverbank filtration site, northeast China. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 706:135855. [PMID: 31864995 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2019] [Revised: 11/03/2019] [Accepted: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
To identify the relationship between microbial communities and groundwater quality parameters, especially typical groundwater contaminants including ammonium (NH4+), iron (Fe2+), and manganese (Mn2+), groundwater samples and aquifer media were collected from a riverbank filtration (RBF) site in Harbin city, northeast China. The structures of the microbial communities of aquifer media at different depths were illustrated through 16S rRNA sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq platform, and the correlation between microbial communities and water quality parameters was quantitatively demonstrated by redundancy analysis (RDA). The results revealed that the diversity of microbial communities decreased along the groundwater flow path at the south bank of Songhua river. The richness and diversity in the unsaturated zone (0-5 m) were significantly higher than those in the saturated zone (5-50 m) because of physiochemical properties of aquifer media and the redox environment in the RBF system. Core taxa, which were significantly related to the biotransformation behavior of iron, manganese, and ammonium, were Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Ochrobactrum, Sphingobium, and Sphingomonas. RDA results indicated that the critical physiochemical parameters that significantly influenced the composition of microbial communities were different in the saturated and unsaturated zones, and the total organic carbon (TOC), electrical conductivity (EC), nitrate (NO3-), and manganese (Mn2+) levels were the four principal factors affecting the function and composition of microbial communities in the whole RBF system. Proteobacteria, Sphingomonadales, and Sphingobium were the dominant bacteria at the phylum, order, and genus levels with 39.8%, 59.2%, and 65.3% contribution to the overall groundwater quality, respectively. The results obtained from this study should improve the understanding of the relationship between the structure of microbial communities (especially, bacteria related to the biotransformation of NH4+, Fe2+, and Mn2+) and physiochemical parameters.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Li Meng
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Rui Zuo
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China.
| | - Jin-Sheng Wang
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Jie Yang
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Qiao Li
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Minhua Chen
- College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100875, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Paterson JS, Smith RJ, McKerral JC, Dann LM, Launer E, Goonan P, Kleinig T, Fuhrman JA, Mitchell JG. A hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer reveals a Piggyback-the-Persistent viral strategy. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2019; 95:5533318. [PMID: 31314089 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiz116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Subsurface environments hold the largest reservoir of microbes in the biosphere. They play essential roles in transforming nutrients, degrading contaminants and recycling organic matter. Here, we propose a previously unrecognised fundamental microbial process that influences aquifer bioremediation dynamics and that applies to all microbial communities. In contrast to previous models, our proposed Piggyback-the-Persistent (PtP) mechanism occurs when viruses become more dominated by those exhibiting temperate rather than lytic lifestyles driven by persistent chemicals (in our case chlorinated-hydrocarbon pollutants) that provide long-term carbon sources and that refocus the aquifer carbon cycle, thus altering the microbial community. In this ultra-oligotrophic system, the virus:microbial ratio (VMR) ranges from below the detection limit of 0.0001 to 0.6, well below the common aquatic range of 3-10. Shortest-average-path network analysis revealed VMR and trichlorethene (TCE) as nodes through which ecosystem information and biomass most efficiently pass. Novel network rearrangement revealed a hierarchy of Kill-the-Winner (KtW), Piggyback-the-Winner (PtW) and PtP nodes. We propose that KtW, PtW and PtP occur simultaneously as competing strategies, with their relative importance depending on conditions at a particular time and location with unusual nutrient sources, such as TCE, appearing to contribute to a shift in this balance between viral mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- James S Paterson
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Renee J Smith
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.,College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Jody C McKerral
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Lisa M Dann
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Elise Launer
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Peter Goonan
- South Australia Environment Protection Authority, GPO Box 2607, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Tavis Kleinig
- South Australia Environment Protection Authority, GPO Box 2607, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Jed A Fuhrman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - James G Mitchell
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Bacterial Productivity in a Ferrocyanide-Contaminated Aquifer at a Nuclear Waste Site. WATER 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/w10081072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
This study examined potential microbial impacts of cyanide contamination in an aquifer affected by ferrocyanide disposal from nuclear waste processing at the US Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in south-eastern Washington State (USA). We examined bacterial productivity and microbial cell density in groundwater (GW) from wells with varying levels of recent and historical total cyanide concentrations. We used tritiated leucine (3H-Leu) uptake as a proxy for heterotrophic, aerobic bacterial productivity in the GW, and we measured cell density via nucleic acid staining followed by epifluorescence microscopy. Bacterial productivity varied widely, both among wells that had high historical and recent total cyanide (CN−) concentrations and among wells that had low total CN− values. Standing microbial biomass varied less, and was generally greater than that observed in a similar study of uranium-contaminated hyporheic-zone groundwater at the Hanford Site. Our results showed no correlation between 3H-Leu uptake and recent or historical cyanide concentrations in the wells, consistent with what is known about cyanide toxicity with respect to iron speciation. However, additional sampling of the CN− affected groundwater, both in space and time, would be needed to confirm that the CN− contamination is not affecting the GW biota.
Collapse
|
5
|
Liu Y, Liu C, Nelson WC, Shi L, Xu F, Liu Y, Yan A, Zhong L, Thompson C, Fredrickson JK, Zachara JM. Effect of Water Chemistry and Hydrodynamics on Nitrogen Transformation Activity and Microbial Community Functional Potential in Hyporheic Zone Sediment Columns. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2017; 51:4877-4886. [PMID: 28391700 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Hyporheic zones (HZ) are active biogeochemical regions where groundwater and surface water mix. N transformations in HZ sediments were investigated in columns with a focus on understanding how the dynamic changes in groundwater and surface water mixing affect microbial community and its biogeochemical function with respect to N transformations. The results indicated that denitrification, DNRA, and nitrification rates and products changed quickly in response to changes in water and sediment chemistry, fluid residence time, and groundwater-surface water exchange. These changes were accompanied by the zonation of denitrification functional genes along a 30 cm advective flow path after a total of 6 days' elution of synthetic groundwater with fluid residence time >9.8 h. The shift of microbial functional potential toward denitrification was correlated with rapid NO3- reduction collectively affected by NO3- concentration and fluid residence time, and was resistant to short-term groundwater-surface water exchange on a daily basis. The results implied that variations in microbial functional potential and associated biogeochemical reactions in the HZ may occur at space scales where steep concentration gradients present along the flow path and the variations would respond to dynamic HZ water exchange over different time periods common to natural and managed riverine systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yuanyuan Liu
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
- School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Chongxuan Liu
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology , Shenzhen, Guangzhou 518055, China
| | - William C Nelson
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| | - Liang Shi
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
- School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences , Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Fen Xu
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
- School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences , Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Yunde Liu
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
- School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences , Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China
| | - Ailan Yan
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
- Institute of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power , Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310018, China
| | - Lirong Zhong
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| | - Christopher Thompson
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| | - James K Fredrickson
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| | - John M Zachara
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Starke R, Müller M, Gaspar M, Marz M, Küsel K, Totsche KU, von Bergen M, Jehmlich N. Candidate Brocadiales dominates C, N and S cycling in anoxic groundwater of a pristine limestone-fracture aquifer. J Proteomics 2017; 152:153-160. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2016.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Revised: 10/28/2016] [Accepted: 11/07/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
|
7
|
Stegen JC, Fredrickson JK, Wilkins MJ, Konopka AE, Nelson WC, Arntzen EV, Chrisler WB, Chu RK, Danczak RE, Fansler SJ, Kennedy DW, Resch CT, Tfaily M. Groundwater-surface water mixing shifts ecological assembly processes and stimulates organic carbon turnover. Nat Commun 2016; 7:11237. [PMID: 27052662 PMCID: PMC4829693 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2015] [Accepted: 03/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental transitions often result in resource mixtures that overcome limitations to microbial metabolism, resulting in biogeochemical hotspots and moments. Riverine systems, where groundwater mixes with surface water (the hyporheic zone), are spatially complex and temporally dynamic, making development of predictive models challenging. Spatial and temporal variations in hyporheic zone microbial communities are a key, but understudied, component of riverine biogeochemical function. Here, to investigate the coupling among groundwater-surface water mixing, microbial communities and biogeochemistry, we apply ecological theory, aqueous biogeochemistry, DNA sequencing and ultra-high-resolution organic carbon profiling to field samples collected across times and locations representing a broad range of mixing conditions. Our results indicate that groundwater-surface water mixing in the hyporheic zone stimulates heterotrophic respiration, alters organic carbon composition, causes ecological processes to shift from stochastic to deterministic and is associated with elevated abundances of microbial taxa that may degrade a broad suite of organic compounds.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- James C Stegen
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - James K Fredrickson
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - Michael J Wilkins
- Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.,School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
| | - Allan E Konopka
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - William C Nelson
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - Evan V Arntzen
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - William B Chrisler
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - Rosalie K Chu
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - Robert E Danczak
- Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
| | - Sarah J Fansler
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - David W Kennedy
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - Charles T Resch
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| | - Malak Tfaily
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Converse BJ, McKinley JP, Resch CT, Roden EE. Microbial mineral colonization across a subsurface redox transition zone. Front Microbiol 2015; 6:858. [PMID: 26379637 PMCID: PMC4551860 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2015] [Accepted: 08/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study employed 16S rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing to examine the hypothesis that chemolithotrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) would preferentially colonize the Fe(II)-bearing mineral biotite compared to quartz sand when the minerals were incubated in situ within a subsurface redox transition zone (RTZ) at the Hanford 300 Area site in Richland, WA, USA. The work was motivated by the recently documented presence of neutral-pH chemolithotrophic FeOB capable of oxidizing structural Fe(II) in primary silicate and secondary phyllosilicate minerals in 300 Area sediments and groundwater (Benzine et al., 2013). Sterilized portions of sand+biotite or sand alone were incubated in situ for 5 months within a multilevel sampling (MLS) apparatus that spanned a ca. 2-m interval across the RTZ in two separate groundwater wells. Parallel MLS measurements of aqueous geochemical species were performed prior to deployment of the minerals. Contrary to expectations, the 16S rRNA gene libraries showed no significant difference in microbial communities that colonized the sand+biotite vs. sand-only deployments. Both mineral-associated and groundwater communities were dominated by heterotrophic taxa, with organisms from the Pseudomonadaceae accounting for up to 70% of all reads from the colonized minerals. These results are consistent with previous results indicating the capacity for heterotrophic metabolism (including anaerobic metabolism below the RTZ) as well as the predominance of heterotrophic taxa within 300 Area sediments and groundwater. Although heterotrophic organisms clearly dominated the colonized minerals, several putative lithotrophic (NH4 (+), H2, Fe(II), and HS(-) oxidizing) taxa were detected in significant abundance above and within the RTZ. Such organisms may play a role in the coupling of anaerobic microbial metabolism to oxidative pathways with attendant impacts on elemental cycling and redox-sensitive contaminant behavior in the vicinity of the RTZ.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Eric E. Roden
- Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-MadisonMadison, WI, USA
| |
Collapse
|