Subsurface cycling of nitrogen and anaerobic aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation revealed by nucleic Acid and metabolic biomarkers.

ABSTRACT: Microbial processes are crucial for ecosystem maintenance, yet documentation of these processes in complex open field sites is challenging. Here we used a multidisciplinary strategy (site geochemistry, laboratory biodegradation assays, and field extraction of molecular biomarkers) to deduce an ongoing linkage between aromatic hydrocarbon biodegradation and nitrogen cycling in a contaminated subsurface site. Three site wells were monitored over a 10-month period, which revealed fluctuating concentrations of nitrate, ammonia, sulfate, sulfide, methane, and other constituents. Biodegradation assays performed under multiple redox conditions indicated that naphthalene metabolism was favored under aerobic conditions. To explore in situ field processes, we measured metabolites of anaerobic naphth

SUBMITTER: Yagi JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2869145 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature