Competition for sulfide among colorless and purple sulfur bacteria in cyanobacterial mats

Abstract

The vertical zonation of light, O 2, H 2S, pH, and sulfur bacteria was studied in two benthic cyanobacterial mats from hypersaline ponds at Guerrero Negro, baja California, Mexico. The physical-chemical gradients were analyzed in the upper few mm at ⩽ 100 μm spatial resolution by microelectrodes and by a fiber optic microprobe. In mats, where oxygen produced by photosynthesis diffused far below the depth of the photic zone, colorless sulfur bacteria ( Beggiatoa sp.) were the dominant sulfide oxidizing organisms. In a mat, where the O 2H 2S interface was close to the photic zone, but yet received no significant visible light, purple sulfur bacteria ( Chromatium sp.) were the dominant sulfide oxidizers. Analysis of the spectral light distribution heare showed that the penetration of only 1% of the incident near-IR light (800–900 nm) into the sulfide zone was sufficient for the development of Chromatium in a narrow band of 300 μm thickness. The balance betweem O 2 and light penetration down into the sulfide zone thus deterined in mcro-scale which type of sulfur bacteria becamed dominant.