Identification of sulfur-cycle prokaryotes in a low-sulfate lake (Lake Pavin) using aprA and 16S rRNA gene markers.

Corinne Biderre-Petit (1) , Delphine Boucher (1) , Jan Kuever (2) , Patrick Albéric (3, 4) , Didier Jézéquel (5, 6) , Brigitte Chebance (1) , Guillaume Borrel (1) , Gérard Fonty (1) , Pierre Peyret (1)

1 LMGE - Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement
2 IWT - Institute of Materials Engineering [Bremen]
3 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans - UMR7327
4 IDES - Interactions et dynamique des environnements de surface
5 LGE - Laboratoire de géochimie des Eaux
6 IPGP - Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris

Geochemical researches at Lake Pavin, a low-sulfate-containing freshwater lake, suggest that the dominant biogeochemical processes are iron and sulfate reduction, and methanogenesis. Although the sulfur cycle is one of the main active element cycles in this lake, little is known about the sulfate-reducer and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. The aim of this study was to assess the vertical distribution of these microbes and their diversities and to test the hypothesis suggesting that only few SRP populations are involved in dissimilatory sulfate reduction and that Epsilonproteobacteria are the likely key players in the oxidative phase of sulfur cycle by using a PCR aprA gene-based approach in comparison with a 16S rRNA gene-based analysis. The results support this hypothesis. Finally, this preliminary work points strongly the likelihood of novel metabolic processes upon the availability of sulfate and other electron acceptors.

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Corinne Biderre-Petit, Delphine Boucher, Jan Kuever, Patrick Albéric, Didier Jézéquel, et al.. Identification of sulfur-cycle prokaryotes in a low-sulfate lake (Lake Pavin) using aprA and 16S rRNA gene markers.. Microbial ecology, 2011, 61 (2), pp.313-27. ⟨10.1007/s00248-010-9769-4⟩. ⟨hal-00842948⟩