Aerobic Organic Carbon Mineralization by Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria in the Oxygen-Saturated Photic Zone of a Hypersaline Microbial Mat

The sulfate-reducing bacterium strain SRB D2 isolated from the photic zone of a hypersaline microbial mat, from Lake Chiprana, NE Spain, respired pyruvate, alanine, and α-ketoglutarate but not formate, lactate, malate, succinate, and serine at significant rates under fully oxic conditions. Dehydrogenase enzymes of only the former substrates are likely oxygen-tolerant as all substrates supported anaerobic sulfate reduction. No indications were found, however, that aerobic respiration supported growth. Although strain SRB D2 appeared phylogenetically closely related to the oxygen-tolerant sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio oxyclinae, substrate spectra were markedly different. Most-probable-number (MPN) estimates of sulfate-reducing bacteria and aerobic heterotrophic bacteria indicated that the latter were numerically dominant in both the photic and aphotic zones of the mat. Moreover, substrate spectra of representative isolates showed that the aerobic heterotrophic bacteria are metabolically more diverse. These findings indicate that sulfate-reducing bacteria in the fully oxic photic zone of mats have to compete with aerobic heterotrophic bacteria for organic substrates. Porewater analysis revealed that total carbohydrates and low-molecular-weight carbon compounds (LMWC) made up substantial fractions of the total dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool and that nighttime degradation of the former was concomitant with increased concentration of the latter. Our findings indicate that aerobic respiration by sulfate-reducing bacteria contributes to organic carbon mineralization in the oxic zone of microbial mats as daytime porewater LMWC concentrations are above typical half-saturation constants.