Daisuke D. Komatsu

Electrochemical stimulation of microbial reductive dechlorination of pentachlorophenol using solid-state redox mediator (humin) immobilization

Immobilized solid-phase humin on a graphite electrode set at -500 mV (vs. standard hydrogen electrode) significantly enhanced the microbial reductive dechlorination of pentachlorophenol as a stable solid-phase redox mediator in bioelectrochemical systems (BESs). Compared with the suspended system, the immobilized system dechlorinated PCP at a much higher efficiency, achieving 116 μmol Cl(-)g(-1) humin d(-1). Fluorescence microscopy showed a conspicuous growth of bacteria on the negatively poised immobilized humin. Electron balance analyses suggested that the electrons required for microbial dechlorination were supplied primarily from the humin-immobilized electrode. Microbial community analyses based on 16S rRNA genes showed that Dehalobacter and Desulfovibrio grew on the immobilized humin as potential dechlorinators. These findings extend the potential of BESs using immobilized solid-phase humin as the redox mediator for in situ bioremediation, given the wide distribution of humin and its efficiency and stability as a mediator.

Biogeochemical Signals from Deep Microbial Life in Terrestrial Crust

In contrast to the deep subseafloor biosphere, a volumetrically vast and stable habitat for microbial life in the terrestrial crust remains poorly explored. For the long-term sustainability of a crustal biome, high-energy fluxes derived from hydrothermal circulation and water radiolysis in uranium-enriched rocks are seemingly essential. However, the crustal habitability depending on a low supply of energy is unknown. We present multi-isotopic evidence of microbially mediated sulfate reduction in a granitic aquifer, a representative of the terrestrial crust habitat. Deep meteoric groundwater was collected from underground boreholes drilled into Cretaceous Toki granite (central Japan). A large sulfur isotopic fractionation of 20–60‰ diagnostic to microbial sulfate reduction is associated with the investigated groundwater containing sulfate below 0.2 mM. In contrast, a small carbon isotopic fractionation (<30‰) is not indicative of methanogenesis. Except for 2011, the concentrations of H2 ranged mostly from 1 to 5 nM, which is also consistent with an aquifer where a terminal electron accepting process is dominantly controlled by ongoing sulfate reduction. High isotopic ratios of mantle-derived 3He relative to radiogenic 4He in groundwater and the flux of H2 along adjacent faults suggest that, in addition to low concentrations of organic matter (<70 µM), H2 from deeper sources might partly fuel metabolic activities. Our results demonstrate that the deep biosphere in the terrestrial crust is metabolically active and playing a crucial role in the formation of reducing groundwater even under low-energy fluxes.

Deep microbial life in high-quality granitic groundwater from geochemically and geographically distinct underground boreholes.

Deep granitic aquifer is one of the largest, but least understood, microbial habitats. To avoid contamination from the surface biosphere, underground drilling was conducted for 300 m deep granitic rocks at the Mizunami underground research laboratory (URL), Japan. Slightly alkaline groundwater was characterized by low concentrations of dissolved organic matter and sulfate and the presence of > 100 nM H2 . The initial biomass was the highest (∼10(5)  cells ml(-1) ) with the dominance of Hydrogenophaga spp., whereas the phylum Nitrospirae became predominant after 3 years with decreasing biomass (∼10(4)  cells ml(-1) ). One week incubation of groundwater microbes after 3 years with (13) C-labelled bicarbonate and 1% H2 and subsequent single-cell imaging with nanometer-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry demonstrated that microbial cells were metabolically active. Pyrosequencing of microbial communities in groundwater retrieved at 3-4 years after drilling at the Mizunami URL and at 14 and 25 years after the drilling at the Grimsel Test Site, Switzerland, revealed the occurrence of common Nitrospirae lineages at the geographically distinct sites. As the close relatives of the Nitrospirae lineages were exclusively detected from deep groundwaters and terrestrial hot springs, it suggests that these bacteria are indigenous and potentially adapted to the deep terrestrial subsurface.

Remote determinations on fumarole outlet temperatures in an eruptive volcano

Direct measurement of the fumarole outlet temperature in active volcanoes is impractical. Therefore, we used an aircraft to sample H2 in the volcanic plume ejected from Sakurajima volcano to remotely estimate the highest fumarolic temperatures of the volcano based on hydrogen isotopic fractionation between H2 and magmatic H2O. We successfully estimated that the δD of the fumarolic H2 in September and December 2014 was −135 ± 13‰ and −113 ± 11‰, respectively, and that the corresponding highest outlet temperatures were 1050 ± 120°C and 1199 ± 139°C. Although the temperatures were higher than those determined by using infrared remote sensing, we concluded that they are more reliable estimates of the highest fumarole outlet temperatures. Combined with plume sampling by using aircraft, remote temperature sensing based on the δD of H2 in volcanic plumes can be widely applied to active volcanoes to determine the highest fumarole outlet temperatures.