A 'rare biosphere' microorganism contributes to sulfate reduction in a peatland.

ABSTRACT: Methane emission from peatlands contributes substantially to global warming but is significantly reduced by sulfate reduction, which is fuelled by globally increasing aerial sulfur pollution. However, the biology behind sulfate reduction in terrestrial ecosystems is not well understood and the key players for this process as well as their abundance remained unidentified. Comparative 16S rRNA gene stable isotope probing (SIP) in the presence and absence of sulfate indicated that a Desulfosporosinus species, which constitutes only 0.006% of the total microbial community 16S rRNA genes, is an important sulfate reducer in a long-term experimental peatland field site. Parallel SIP using dsrAB (encoding subunit A and B of the dissimilatory (bi)sulfite reductase) identified no additional sulfate

SUBMITTER: Pester M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4499578 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature