Functional redundancy imparts process stability to acidic Fe(II)‐oxidizing microbial reactors

Summary In previous work, lab‐scale reactors designed to study microbial Fe(II) oxidation rates at low pH were found to have stable rates under a wide range of pH and Fe(II) concentrations. Since the stirred reactor environment eliminates many of the temporal and spatial variations that promote high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental microbiology 2021-07, Vol.23 (7), p.3682-3694
Main Authors: Ayala‐Muñoz, Diana, Simister, Rachel L., Crowe, Sean A., Macalady, Jennifer L., Burgos, William D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidic oxides
Biofilms
Carbon fixation
Constraining
Functionals
Iron
Metabolism
Metagenomics
Microorganisms
Niches
Oxidation
Oxidizing agents
pH effects
Phosphorus
Phylogeny
Populations
Reactors
Redundancy
Spatial variations
Stability
Substrates
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Summary:Summary In previous work, lab‐scale reactors designed to study microbial Fe(II) oxidation rates at low pH were found to have stable rates under a wide range of pH and Fe(II) concentrations. Since the stirred reactor environment eliminates many of the temporal and spatial variations that promote high diversity among microbial populations in nature, we were surprised that the reactors supported multiple taxa presumed to be autotrophic Fe(II) oxidizers based on their phylogeny. Metagenomic analyses of the reactor communities revealed differences in the metabolic potential of these taxa with respect to Fe(II) oxidation and carbon fixation pathways, acquisition of potentially growth‐limiting substrates and the ability to form biofilms. Our findings support the hypothesis that the long‐term co‐existence of multiple autotrophic Fe(II)‐oxidizing populations in the reactors are due to distinct metabolic potential that supports differential growth in response to limiting resources such as nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen. Our data also highlight the role of biofilms in creating spatially distinct geochemical niches that enable the co‐existence of multiple taxa that occupy the same apparent metabolic niche when the system is viewed in bulk. The distribution of key metabolic functions across different co‐existing taxa supported functional redundancy and imparted process stability to these reactors.
ISSN:1462-2912
1462-2920
DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.15259