Calcite-accumulating large sulfur bacteria of the genus Achromatium in Sippewissett Salt Marsh.

ABSTRACT: Large sulfur bacteria of the genus Achromatium are exceptional among Bacteria and Archaea as they can accumulate high amounts of internal calcite. Although known for more than 100 years, they remain uncultured, and only freshwater populations have been studied so far. Here we investigate a marine population of calcite-accumulating bacteria that is primarily found at the sediment surface of tide pools in a salt marsh, where high sulfide concentrations meet oversaturated oxygen concentrations during the day. Dynamic sulfur cycling by phototrophic sulfide-oxidizing and heterotrophic sulfate-reducing bacteria co-occurring in these sediments creates a highly sulfidic environment that we propose induces behavioral differences in the Achromatium population compared with reported migration pattern

SUBMITTER: Salman V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4611513 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature