Collaborative Research: The Role of Iron-oxidizing Bacteria in the Sedimentary Iron Cycle: Ecological, Physiological and Biogeochemical Implications

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Iron is one of the most abundant elements on Earth and is an essential element for life. Despite its abundance, iron is not always biologically available. For example, in the water column of the ocean, iron is easily oxidized and precipitates or sinks to the sediments. This can result in there being such a deficit of iron in the open ocean that it is often the primary limiting nutrient for the growth of phytoplankton that form the base of the marine food web. Marine sediments can be a major source of iron to the ocean, when it is made biologically available. Interestingly, one group of bacteria, the iron-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB), can use iron directly as an energy source to fuel their growth, and may govern the availability of iron to other parts of the ocean. While this group can be abundant at hydrothermal vents, little is known about their abundance or activity in marine sediments. Are these bacteria playing an important role in controlling the flux of iron from the sediments to the water column? To answer this, sediments on the east and west coasts of the United States will be analyzed to characterize and quantitate the diversity and abundance of FeOB. In addition, a series of laboratory experiments will be aimed at understanding the specific role they play in controlling iron flux from the sediments to the ocean, as well as the technically challenging question of determining the lower limit of oxygen at which they can grow. This work has relevance to our understanding of how biological control of a seemingly minor constituent in seawater, iron, could have implications for productivity of the entire ocean. Notably, a predicted impact of climate change on marine environments is to decrease oxygen levels in the ocean. This could have a profound influence on the sedimentary iron cycle, and possibly lead to greater inputs of iron, which could in turn alleviate iron-limitation in some regions of the ocean, thereby enhancing the rate of CO2-fixation and draw down of CO2 from the atmosphere. This project will provide training for a postdoctoral scientist, graduate students and undergraduates. Public outreach will include a student initiated exhibit, entitled "Iron and the evolution of life on Earth" at the Harvard Museum of Natural History providing a unique opportunity for undergraduate training and outreach. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that FeOB are more common in marine sedimentary environments than previously recognized, and play a substantive role in governing the iron flux from the sediments into the water column by constraining the release of dissolved iron (dFe) from sediments. A survey of near shore regions in the Gulf of Maine, and a transect along the Monterey Canyon off the coast of California will obtain cores of sedimentary muds and look at the vertical distribution of FeOB and putative Fe-reducing bacteria using sensitive techniques to detect their presence and relative abundance. Sediments will be used in a novel reactor system that will allow for precise control of O2 levels and iron concentration to measure the dynamics of the iron cycle under different oxygen regimens. Pure cultures of FeOB with different O2 affinities will be tested in a bioreactor coupled to a highly sensitive mass spectrometer to determine the lower limits of O2 utilization for different FeOB growing on iron, thus providing mechanistic insight into their activity and distribution in low oxygen environments.