Microbial metabolite fluxes in a model marine anoxic ecosystem

Permanently anoxic regions in the ocean are widespread and exhibit unique microbial metabolic activity exerting substantial influence on global elemental cycles and climate. Reconstructing microbial metabolic activity rates in these regions has been challenging, due to the technical difficulty of direct rate measurements. In Cariaco Basin, which is the largest permanently anoxic marine basin and an important model system for geobiology, long‐term monitoring has yielded time series for the concentrations of biologically important compounds; however, the underlying metabolite fluxes remain poorly quantified. Here, we present a computational approach for reconstructing vertical fluxes and in situ net production/consumption rates from chemical concentration data, based on a 1‐dimensional time‐dependent diffusive transport model that includes adaptive penalization of overfitting. We use this approach to estimate spatiotemporally resolved fluxes of oxygen, nitrate, hydrogen sulfide, ammonium, methane, and phosphate within the sub‐euphotic Cariaco Basin water column (depths 150–900 m, years 2001–2014) and to identify hotspots of microbial chemolithotrophic activity. Predictions of the fitted models are in excellent agreement with the data and substantially expand our knowledge of the geobiology in Cariaco Basin. In particular, we find that the diffusivity, and consequently fluxes of major reductants such as hydrogen sulfide, and methane, is about two orders of magnitude greater than previously estimated, thus resolving a long‐standing apparent conundrum between electron donor fluxes and measured dark carbon assimilation rates.     

中国遗迹化石研究80年

中国遗迹化石研究经历了零星(1929-1978)、系统(1978-2004)和创新(2004～)研究3阶段.在前寒武纪一寒武纪之交遗迹化石研究;海相遗迹化石及其古环境和古生态意义研究;陆相遗迹化石及其与能源形成环境关系研究;前寒武纪遗迹化石与后生动物的起源与演化研究;拓扑遗迹分析;遗迹化石在浊流、风暴事件和层序地层研究中的应用;复杂遗迹化石的地球生物学研究和遗迹化石模拟与可视化研究8个方面取得了显著的进展和成就.研究队伍偏少且不稳定;原创、系统、有深度、有影响的研究成果不多;缺少有力度的学科交叉和国际合作是存在的主要问题.加强遗迹学人才和团队培育,稳定支持几个有特色的遗迹学研究方向;基于遗迹学资料的系统积累,拓展和深化遗迹化石的地球生物学研究;加强遗迹化石在海、陆相油气资源评价和储层研究中的应用;创新遗迹化石的研究方法手段,重视和加强现代生物遗迹研究是值得今后进一步关注的问题.     

Diverse communities of Bacteria and Archaea flourished in Palaeoarchaean (3.5–3.3 Ga) microbial mats

Limited taxonomic classification is possible for Archaean microbial mats and this is a fundamental limitation in constraining early ecosystems. Applying Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), a powerful tool for identifying vibrational motions attributable to specific functional groups, we characterized fossilized biopolymers in 3.5–3.3 Ga microbial mats from the Barberton greenstone belt (South Africa). Microbial mats from four Palaeoarchaean horizons exhibit significant differences in taxonomically informative aliphatic contents, despite high aromaticity. This reflects precursor biological heterogeneity since all horizons show equally exceptional preservation and underwent similar grades of metamorphism. Low methylene to end-methyl (CH₂/CH₃) absorbance ratios in mats from the 3.472 Ga Middle Marker horizon signify short, highly branched n-alkanes interpreted as isoprenoid chains forming archaeal membranes. Mats from the 3.45 Ga Hooggenoeg Chert H5c, 3.334 Ga Footbridge Chert, and 3.33 Ga Josefsdal Chert exhibit higher CH₂/CH₃ ratios suggesting mostly longer, unbranched fatty acids from bacterial lipid precursors. Absorbance ratios of end-methyl to methylene (CH₃/CH₂) in Hooggenoeg, Josefsdal and Footbridge mats yield a range of values (0.20–0.80) suggesting mixed bacterial and archaeal architect communities based on comparison with modern examples. Higher (0.78–1.25) CH₃/CH₂ ratios in the Middle Marker mats identify Archaea. This exceptional preservation reflects early, rapid silicification preventing the alteration of biogeochemical signals inherited from biomass. Since silicification commenced during the lifetime of the microbial mat, FTIR signals estimate the affinities of the architect community and may be used in the reconstruction of Archaean ecosystems. Together, these results show that Bacteria and Archaea flourished together in Earth's earliest ecosystems.     

Filamentous Hydrous Ferric Oxide Biosignatures in a Pipeline Carrying Acid Mine Drainage at Iron Mountain Mine,California

A pipeline carrying acidic mine effluent at Iron Mountain, CA, developed Fe(III)-rich precipitate caused by oxidation of Fe(II)_aq. The native microbial community in the pipe included filamentous microbes. The pipe scale consisted of microbial filaments, and schwertmannite (ferric oxyhydroxysulfate, FOHS) mineral spheres and filaments. FOHS filaments contained central lumina with diameters similar to those of microbial filaments. FOHS filament geometry, the geochemical environment, and the presence of filamentous microbes suggest that FOHS filaments are mineralized microbial filaments. This formation of textural biosignatures provides the basis for a conceptual model for the development and preservation of biosignatures in other environments.