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Biological and abiological sulfur reduction at high temperatures
S Belkin1, C O Wirsen, H W Jannasch
1Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
|May 1, 1985
Summary
Elemental sulfur reduction was studied in thermophilic bacteria. Both biological and abiotic sulfide production occurred at high temperatures, with bacteria enhancing cell yield.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Geochemistry
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Elemental sulfur reduction is a key process in various environments.
- Thermophilic microorganisms play a role in sulfur cycling at high temperatures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate elemental sulfur reduction by thermophilic bacteria.
- To compare biological and abiotic sulfide production at high temperatures.
Main Methods:
- Experiments were conducted in anoxic artificial seawater media.
- Temperatures ranged from 65 to 110 degrees C.
- Sulfide production was measured in the presence and absence of thermophilic sulfur-reducing bacteria.
Main Results:
- Significant abiotic sulfide production occurred above 80 degrees C, increasing with temperature and pH.
- Thermophilic eubacteria and archaebacteria respired sulfur, producing sulfide at exponential rates.
- Sulfur respiration increased cell yield up to fourfold in both bacterial strains.
Conclusions:
- Sulfur respiration is favored at high temperatures.
- This process is not exclusive to archaebacteria but is also performed by other extreme thermophiles.
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