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Sustained ability of a natural microbial community to remove nitrate from groundwater

View ORCID ProfileCharles J. Paradis, John I. Miller, Ji-Won Moon, Sarah J. Spencer, View ORCID ProfileLauren M. Lui, Joy D. Van Nostrand, Daliang Ning, Andrew D. Steen, Larry D. McKay, View ORCID ProfileAdam P. Arkin, Jizhong Zhou, Eric J. Alm, View ORCID ProfileTerry C. Hazen
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.27.446013
Charles J. Paradis
1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
2Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
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  • ORCID record for Charles J. Paradis
John I. Miller
2Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
3Bredesen Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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Ji-Won Moon
2Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
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Sarah J. Spencer
4Biological Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Lauren M. Lui
5Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
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  • ORCID record for Lauren M. Lui
Joy D. Van Nostrand
6Institute for Environmental Genomics, Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, and School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
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Daliang Ning
6Institute for Environmental Genomics, Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, and School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
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Andrew D. Steen
1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
8Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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Larry D. McKay
1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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Adam P. Arkin
5Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
7Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Jizhong Zhou
6Institute for Environmental Genomics, Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, and School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
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Eric J. Alm
4Biological Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Terry C. Hazen
1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
2Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
3Bredesen Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
8Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
9Department of Civil and Environmental Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
10Center for Environmental Biotechnology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
11Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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  • ORCID record for Terry C. Hazen
  • For correspondence: tchazen@utk.edu
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Abstract

Microbial-mediated nitrate removal from groundwater is widely recognized as the predominant mechanism for nitrate attenuation in contaminated aquifers and is largely dependent on the presence of a carbon-bearing electron donor. The repeated exposure of a natural microbial community to an electron donor can result in the sustained ability of the community to remove nitrate; this phenomenon has been clearly demonstrated at the laboratory scale. However, in situ demonstrations of this ability are lacking. For this study, ethanol (electron donor) was repeatedly injected into a groundwater well (treatment) for six consecutive weeks to establish the sustained ability of a microbial community to remove nitrate. A second well (control) located up-gradient was not injected with ethanol during this time. The treatment well demonstrated strong evidence of sustained ability as evident by concomitant ethanol and nitrate removal and subsequent sulfate removal upon consecutive exposures. Both wells were then monitored for six additional weeks under natural (no injection) conditions. During the final week, ethanol was injected into both treatment and control wells. The treatment well demonstrated sustained ability as evident by concomitant ethanol and nitrate removal whereas the control did not. Surprisingly, the treatment well did not indicate a sustained and selective enrichment of a microbial community. These results suggested that the predominant mechanism(s) of sustained ability likely exist at the enzymatic- and/or genetic-levels. The results of this study demonstrated that the in situ ability of a microbial community to remove nitrate can be sustained in the prolonged absence of an electron donor. Moreover, these results implied that the electron-donor exposure history of nitrate-contaminated groundwater can play an important role nitrate attenuation.

Article Impact Statement Groundwater microbes sustain ability to remove nitrate in absence of carbon and energy source.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • Conflict of Interest: None

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted May 28, 2021.
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Sustained ability of a natural microbial community to remove nitrate from groundwater
Charles J. Paradis, John I. Miller, Ji-Won Moon, Sarah J. Spencer, Lauren M. Lui, Joy D. Van Nostrand, Daliang Ning, Andrew D. Steen, Larry D. McKay, Adam P. Arkin, Jizhong Zhou, Eric J. Alm, Terry C. Hazen
bioRxiv 2021.05.27.446013; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.27.446013
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Sustained ability of a natural microbial community to remove nitrate from groundwater
Charles J. Paradis, John I. Miller, Ji-Won Moon, Sarah J. Spencer, Lauren M. Lui, Joy D. Van Nostrand, Daliang Ning, Andrew D. Steen, Larry D. McKay, Adam P. Arkin, Jizhong Zhou, Eric J. Alm, Terry C. Hazen
bioRxiv 2021.05.27.446013; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.27.446013

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