Journal ArticleDOI
Confined subsurface microbial communities in Cretaceous rock
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In this article, the authors present evidence for the presence of spatially discrete microbial communities in Cretaceous rocks and advance a mechanism for the long-term survival of these subterranean communities.Abstract:
Deep subsurface microbial communities1 are believed to be supported by organic matter that was either deposited with the formation sediments or which migrated from the surface along groundwater flowpaths. Investigation has therefore focused on the existence of microorganisms in recently deposited or highly permeable sediments2,3. Fewer reports have focused on consolidated rocks4–7. These findings have often been limited by inadequate tracer methodology or non-sterile sampling techniques. Here we present evidence for the presence of spatially discrete microbial communities in Cretaceous rocks and advance a mechanism for the long-term survival of these subterranean communities. Samples were collected using aseptic methods and sensitive tracers8. Our results indicate that the main energy source for these communities is organic material trapped within shales. Microbial activity in shales appears to be greatly reduced, presumably because of their restrictive pore size9. However, organic material or its fermentation products could diffuse into adjacent, more permeable sandstones, where microbial activity was much more abundant. This process resulted in the presence of microbial communities at sandstone–shale interfaces. These microorganisms presumably ferment organic matter and carry out sulphate reduction and acetogenesis.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Temperature dependence of metabolic rates for microbial growth, maintenance, and survival.
P. Buford Price,Todd Sowers +1 more
TL;DR: The rate micros(T) for repairing molecular damage by means of DNA- repair enzymes and protein-repair enzymes such as methyltransferase is found to be comparable to the rate of spontaneous molecular damage, which supports the view that, far below the freezing point, liquid water inside ice and permafrost is available for metabolism.
Journal ArticleDOI
Energetics of overall metabolic reactions of thermophilic and hyperthermophilic Archaea and Bacteria
Jan P. Amend,Everett L. Shock +1 more
TL;DR: It is shown that values of DeltaGr(0) for many microbially mediated reactions are highly temperature dependent, and that adopting values determined at 25 degrees C for systems at elevated temperatures introduces significant and unnecessary errors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microbial Communities Associated with Geological Horizons in Coastal Subseafloor Sediments from the Sea of Okhotsk
Fumio Inagaki,Masae Suzuki,Ken Takai,Hanako Oida,Tatsuhiko Sakamoto,Kaori Aoki,Kenneth H. Nealson,Koki Horikoshi +7 more
TL;DR: The porous ash layers of the southwestern Sea of Okhotsk appear to be discrete microbial habitats within the coastal subseafloor clay sediment, which are capable of harboring microbial communities that are very distinct from the communities in the more abundant pelagic clays.
Journal ArticleDOI
Deep sub-seafloor prokaryotes stimulated at interfaces over geological time
Ronald John Parkes,Gordon Webster,Barry Andrew Cragg,Andrew J. Weightman,Carole J. Newberry,Timothy G. Ferdelman,Jens Kallmeyer,Bo Barker Jørgensen,Ivano W. Aiello,John C. Fry +9 more
TL;DR: Results show that deep sedimentary prokaryotes can have high activity, have changing diversity associated with interfaces and are active over geological timescales.
Journal ArticleDOI
A reappraisal of the habitability of planets around M dwarf stars.
Jill Tarter,Peter Backus,Rocco L. Mancinelli,Jonathan M. Aurnou,Dana E. Backman,Gibor Basri,Alan P. Boss,Andrew Clarke,Drake Deming,Laurance R. Doyle,Eric D. Feigelson,Friedmann Freund,David Grinspoon,Robert M. Haberle,Steven A. Hauck,Martin J. Heath,Todd J. Henry,Jeffery L. Hollingsworth,Manoj Joshi,Steven Kilston,Michael C. Liu,Eric Meikle,I. Neill Reid,Lynn J. Rothschild,John Scalo,Antígona Segura,Carol M. Tang,James M. Tiedje,Margaret C. Turnbull,Lucianne M. Walkowicz,Arthur L. Weber,Richard E. Young +31 more
TL;DR: It is concluded that M dwarf stars may indeed be viable hosts for planets on which the origin and evolution of life can occur and it makes sense to include M dwarfs in programs that seek to find habitable worlds and evidence of life.
References
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Manual of environmental microbiology.
TL;DR: This book discusses water Microbiology in Public Health, soil, Rhizosphere and Phyllosphere, and the role of aerobiology in these environments.
Journal ArticleDOI
Measurement of bacterial sulfate reduction in sediments: Evaluation of a single-step chromium reduction method
TL;DR: In this paper, a procedure which includes the Total Reduced Inorganic Sulfur (TRIS) in a single distillation step is described for the radiotracer measurement of sulfate reduction in sediments.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microbiological fractionation of stable sulfur isotopes: A review and critique
L. A. Chambers,P. A. Trudinger +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, a model for isotopic effects associated with sulfuroxidizing organisms was proposed to account for these effects based on current knowledge of the reduction pathways, which can be found in the modern environment leaving little doubt that microbiological factors play a significant role in determining sulfur isotope dis...
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Rates of microbial metabolism in deep coastal plain aquifers
TL;DR: The rate estimates from geochemical modeling indicate that deep aquifers are among the most oligotrophic aquatic environments in which there is ongoing microbial metabolism, and laboratory incubations may greatly overestimate the in situ rates of microbial metabolism in deep subsurface environments.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microbial production of organic acids in aquitard sediments and its role in aquifer geochemistry
TL;DR: Microbial production of organic acids in aquitard sediments and its role in aquifer geochemistry is discussed in detail in this article, with a focus on the role of aquifer aquitards.