Microbial Metabolic Rates Research Articles

Spatial-temporal impacts of invasive Spartina anglica on the rates and pathways of organic carbon mineralization and resulting C-Fe-S cycles in the intertidal wetland of the Han River Estuary, Yellow Sea

To elucidate the spatial-temporal impact of invasive saltmarsh plant Spartina anglica on the biogeochemical processes in coastal wetlands, we investigated the rates and partitioning of organic carbon (Corg) mineralization in three representative benthic habitats: (1) vegetated sediments inhabited by invasive S. anglica (SA); vegetated sediments by indigenous Suaeda japonica; and (3) unvegetated mud flats. Microbial metabolic rates were greatly stimulated at the SA site during the active growing seasons of Spartina, indicating that a substantial amount of organic substrates was supplied from the high below-ground biomass of Spartina. At the SA site, sulfate reduction dominated the Corg mineralization pathways during the plant growing season, whereas iron reduction dominated during the non-growing season. Overall, due to its greater biomass and longer growing season than native Suaeda, the expansion of invasive Spartina is likely to greatly alter the Corg-Fe-S cycles and carbon storage capacity in the coastal wetlands.

Fulvic acid-mediated efficient anaerobic digestion for kitchen wastewater: Electrochemical and biochemical mechanisms

Fulvic acid, prevalent in humus derived from the anaerobic digestion of kitchen wastewater, is crucial in organic matter transformation. However, its effects and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, the fate of anaerobic digestion of artificial and kitchen wastewater with different fulvic acid contents was investigated. The results showed that 125 mg/L fulvic acid resulted in a 64.02 and 51.72 % increase in methane production in synthetic and kitchen wastewater, respectively. Fulvic acid acted as an electron mediator and increased substrate oxidation by boosting NAD and ATP levels, thereby increasing microbial metabolic rates and ensuring an adequate substrate for methane generation. Isotope analysis suggested that fulvic acid boosts the conversion of volatile fatty acids to methane via the interspecies electron transfer pathway. Gene expression analysis revealed that cytochrome c, FAD, and other electron transport coenzymes were upregulated by fulvic acid, thereby enhancing substrate utilisation and biogas quality. Fulvic acid presented a dual stimulatory and inhibitory effect on anaerobic digestion, with concentrations over 125 mg/L diminishing its positive impact. This dual effect may stem from the properties and concentrations of fulvic acid. This study revealed the effect mechanism of fulvic acid and provided insights into the humus performance in anaerobic digestion

A meta-analysis of peatland microbial diversity and function responses to climate change

Climate change threatens the capacity of peatlands to continue storing carbon (C) belowground. Microorganisms are crucial in regulating the peatland C sink function, but how climate change affects the richness, biomass and functions of peatland microbiomes still remains uncertain. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis of the response of peatland bacterial, fungal and micro-eukaryote communities to climate change by synthesizing data from 120 climate change experiments. We show that climate drivers such as warming, drought and warming-induced vegetation shift strongly affect microbial diversity, community composition, trophic structure and functions. Using meta-analytic structural equation modelling, we developed a causal understanding among the different strands of microbial properties. We found that climate drivers influenced microbial metabolic rates, such as CO2 fixation and respiration, methane production and oxidation, directly through physiological effects, and indirectly, through microbial species turnover and shifts in the trophic structure of microbial communities. In particular, we found that the response of microbial CO2 fixation increased for each degree in air temperature gained, while the response of microbial CO2 respiration tended to decline. When extrapolated at the global peatland scale using the CMIP6 model under the SSP5-8.5 scenario, our findings suggest that the increasingly positive response of microbial CO2 fixation to temperature anomalies in northern latitudes might compensate to some extent for the possible loss of C from microbial CO2 respiration, possibly allowing peatlands to remain C sinks on long-term. Our findings have crucial implications for advancing our understanding of carbon-climate feedback from peatlands in a warming world.

Evaluation of the effect of tween-80 and its additive amount on the maturity of cassava residue compost

Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin interweave to form a dense network structure that makes lignocellulosic biomass difficult to degrade. Tween-80 is a non-ionic surfactant that can be used to promote microbial growth and increase the rate of microbial metabolism in compost. In this study, different doses of Tween-80 were presented as additives in the composting process to reduce the composting time and improve the maturity of the compost. The composting trial was conducted in a 10 L reactor for 46 days. The results showed that the addition of the chemical surfactant Tween-80 increased the temperature in the composting process and could effectively promote the degradation of lignocellulose and reduce phytotoxicity. During the composting process, the microbial population showed exponential growth followed by a gradual decline. At the end of composting, Tween-80 added at 0.35% reduced the C/N ratio to 9.61, much lower than that of the CK group at 12.3. Meanwhile, the degradation rates of cellulose and hemicellulose increased by 2.76% and 7.86%, respectively. Toxicity experiments on compost products also proved that the seed germination index of compost with 0.35% Tween-80 addition increased to 98.57%, which is 17.33% higher than that without the addition. FT-IR and TG experiments showed that the addition of Tween-80 could effectively accelerate the composting process and promote the rapid maturation of the heap. In conclusion, the addition of 0.35% Tween-80 was most conducive to promoting the rapid decomposition of organic matter in cassava residue compost and improving the maturity of the heap.

Dynamic responses of carbon metabolism of sediment microbial communities to Ag nanoparticles: Effects of the single and repeated exposure scenarios

The widespread use of nanosilver will inevitably lead to their release into aquatic environment, threating the health of freshwater ecosystem. The toxic effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on sediment microbial diversity, community composition, and functional enzyme activity are well established, while little is known about how sediment microbes dynamically respond to the stress of different AgNPs exposure scenarios. Herein, microcosm experiments were performed to investigate the impacts of repeated (1 mg/L, applied every 6 days for 10 times) and single (10 mg/L) exposure scenarios of AgNPs on the specific functions of sediment microbes (5–60 days). The carbon metabolism of sediment microbial communities was measured using BIOLOG ECO microplates, and carbon metabolic rate and functional diversity indices were calculated. Compared to control group, the maximum carbon source utilization capacity of the microbial community increased by 6.6 and 15.4 % in the single and repeated exposure group, respectively. And the metabolic rates of sediment microorganisms were significant increased by 6.1 % in the repeated exposure group, which suggested that repetitive low-dosing of AgNPs induce a larger alteration of both capacity and rate of microbial carbon metabolism. Notably, different AgNPs exposure scenarios resulted in a shift in the carbon source preference of the microorganisms. After exposure for 60 days, compared with the controls, the ability to utilize polymers was significantly increased by 51.5 and 21.7 % in the single and repeated exposure groups, respectively, and decreased by 33.7 and 10.5 % in the utilization of miscellaneous, both exhibiting significant differences (P < 0.05), implying that AgNPs exposure scenarios affected the microbial-mediated carbon cycling processes in sediment. These results highlight that different exposure scenarios of AgNPs have different effects on the carbon metabolism capacity of microbial communities, thus affecting the carbon cycling processes in which microorganisms are involved.

Transport-limited reactions in microbial systems.

Predicting microbial metabolic rates and emergent biogeochemical fluxes remains challenging due to the many unknown population dynamical, physiological and reaction-kinetic parameters and uncertainties in species composition. Here, we show that the need for these parameters can be eliminated when population dynamics and reaction kinetics operate at much shorter time scales than physical mixing processes. Such scenarios are widespread in poorly mixed water columns and sediments. In this 'fast-reaction-transport' (FRT) limit, all that is required for predictions are chemical boundary conditions, the physical mixing processes and reaction stoichiometries, while no knowledge of species composition, physiology or population/reaction kinetic parameters is needed. Using time-series data spanning years 2001-2014 and depths 180-900 m across the permanently anoxic Cariaco Basin, we demonstrate that the FRT approach can accurately predict the dynamics of major electron donors and acceptors (Pearson r ≥ 0.9 in all cases). Hence, many microbial processes in this system are largely transport limited and thus predictable regardless of species composition, population dynamics and kinetics. Our approach enables predictions for many systems in which microbial community dynamics and kinetics are unknown. Our findings also reveal a mechanism for the frequently observed decoupling between function and taxonomy in microbial systems.

Sediment mineralogy influences the rate of microbial sulfate reduction in marine sediments

Sedimentary microbial communities play a critical role in the global carbon cycle, oxidizing deposited organic carbon and thus influencing the type of carbon buried from Earth's surface. The rate of microbial metabolism within sedimentary microbial communities is often linked to the lability and amount of organic carbon deposited. Here we show that, in pure culture, for sulfate-reducing bacteria (Desulfovibrio bizertensis) the rate of microbial sulfate reduction is a function of the proportion of clay minerals present in the incubation vials. We argue that the presence of clay minerals stimulates the growth of the sulfate-reducing bacteria and the rate at which sulfate is consumed; we conclude that this is not linked to nutrients and carbon on the clay minerals but rather is a function of the high specific surface area of clay minerals. We further use a global compilation of sedimentary pore fluid data to demonstrate that these observations can be seen in marine sediments, that is pore fluid sulfate concentration gradients in marine sediments correlate with the percentage of clay minerals in the sediment. Our findings suggest that sediment mineralogy influences the rate of microbial activity in marine sediments, which has heretofore not been considered.

The effect of temperature change on metabolism: separating biological and chemical reactions

Life-detection experiments carried out in extraterrestrial locations provided inconclusive results whether processes observed were biological or chemical. In this study, the typical effect of temperature on metabolic rates is described and a life-detection method that is easy to perform is proposed. The method comprises observing changes in microbial metabolic rates after temperature shift. The method was demonstrated by experiments on aquatic microorganisms in the Gulf of Gdansk (Baltic Sea). First experiment, in which temperature was shifted within the temperature range encountered at the sampling site, demonstrated a typical Q10 coefficient (2.84). The experiment in which temperature was shifted beyond the environmental temperature range provided an unexpectedly low Q10 coefficient (1.44), which indicated that excessive temperature exerted an inhibitory effect on metabolism. This response is not expected for chemical reactions, but it is typical for biological processes. In summary, a pair of properly-tailored experiments permitted separating biological and chemical reactions.

In Vitro Microbial Metabolism of (+)-Catechin Reveals Fast and Slow Converters with Individual-Specific Microbial and Metabolite Markers.

The bioavailability of catechin highly relies on gut microbiota which may determine its metabolic profile, resulting in different health outcomes. Here, we investigated in vitro (+)-catechin metabolism by human microbial communities. There were substantial interindividual differences in the metabolic profiles of (+)-catechin, with 5-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)-γ-valerolactone being the major contributor. Furthermore, the microbial metabolic rate of catechin enabled stratification of 12 participants (fast, medium, and slow converters), despite the interference from the strong intrinsic interindividual variability in fecal microbiota. Correlations were established between this stratified population and microbiota features, such as ecosystem diversity. Additionally, fast converters had significantly higher prevalences of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) with potential capacity of C-ring cleavage (ASV233_Eggerthella and ASV402_Eubacterium), B-ring dihydroxylation (ASV402_Eubacterium), and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing ASVs. In conclusion, metabolic-capability-based stratification allows us to uncover differences in microbial composition between fast and slow converters, which could help to elucidate interindividual variabilities in the health benefits of catechins.

Interplay between eutrophication and climate warming on bacterial communities in coastal sediments differs depending on water depth and oxygen history

Coastal aquatic systems suffer from nutrient enrichment, which results in accelerated eutrophication effects due to increased microbial metabolic rates. Climate change related prolonged warming will likely accelerate existing eutrophication effects, including low oxygen concentrations. However, how the interplay between these environmental changes will alter coastal ecosystems is poorly understood. In this study, we compared 16S rRNA gene amplicon based bacterial communities in coastal sediments of a Baltic Sea basin in November 2013 and 2017 at three sites along a water depth gradient with varying bottom water oxygen histories. The shallow site showed changes of only 1.1% in relative abundance of bacterial populations in 2017 compared to 2013, while the deep oxygen-deficient site showed up to 11% changes in relative abundance including an increase of sulfate-reducing bacteria along with a 36% increase in organic matter content. The data suggested that bacterial communities in shallow sediments were more resilient to seasonal oxygen decline, while bacterial communities in sediments subjected to long-term hypoxia seemed to be sensitive to oxygen changes and were likely to be under hypoxic/anoxic conditions in the future. Our data demonstrate that future climate changes will likely fuel eutrophication related spread of low oxygen zones.

Determining the Temperature Dependency of Biodegradation Kinetics for 34 Hydrocarbons while Avoiding Chemical and Microbial Confounding Factors.

Biodegradation kinetics data are keystone for evaluating the environmental persistence and risk of chemicals. Biodegradation kinetics depend highly on the prevailing temperature, which influences microbial community structures, metabolic rates, and chemical availability. There is a lack of high-quality comparative biodegradation kinetics data that are determined at different test temperatures but with the same microbial inoculum and chemical availability. The present study was designed to determine the effect of test temperature on the biodegradation kinetics of hydrocarbons while avoiding confounding factors. We used inocula from a Northern river (2.7 °C) and a Central European river (12.5 °C). Aqueous stock solutions containing 45 individual hydrocarbons were generated by passive dosing and added to river water containing the native microorganisms. Compound-specific biodegradation kinetics were then determined at 2.7, 12, and 20 °C based on substrate depletion. Main findings comprise the following: (1) Degradation half-times (DegT50) of 34 test chemicals were determined at different test temperatures and were largely consistent with the Arrhenius equation (activation energy, 65.4 kJ/mol). (2) Differences in biodegradation kinetics between tested isomers were rather limited. (3) The recent lowering of standard test temperature from 20 to 12 °C results typically in a doubling of DegT50 values and can lead to a stricter persistency assessment.

Long-term patterns and drivers of microbial organic matter utilization in the northernmost basin of the Mediterranean Sea

Marine heterotrophic prokaryotes degrade, transform, and utilize half of the organic matter (OM) produced by photosynthesis, either in dissolved or particulate form. Microbial metabolic rates are affected by a plethora of different factors, spanning from environmental variables to OM composition. To tease apart the environmental drivers underlying the observed organic matter utilization rates, we analysed a 21 year-long time series from the Gulf of Trieste (NE Adriatic Sea). Heterotrophic carbon production (HCP) time series analysis highlighted a long-term structure made up by three periods of coherent observations (1999-2007; 2008-2011; 2012-2019), shared also by OM concentration time series. Temporal patterns of HCP drivers, extracted with a random forest approach, demonstrated that a period of high salinity anomalies (2002–2008) was the main driver of this structure. The reduced river runoff and the consequent depletion of river-borne inorganic nutrients induced a long-term Chl a decline (2006–2009), followed by a steady increase until 2014. HCP driving features over the three periods substantially changed in their seasonal patterns, suggesting that the years following the draught period represented a transition between two long-term regimes. Overall, temperature and particulate organic carbon concentration were the main factors driving HCP rates. The emergence of these variables highlighted the strong control exerted by the temperature-substrate co-limitation on microbial growth. Further exploration revealed that HCP rates did not follow the Arrhenius’ linear response to temperature between 2008 and 2011, demonstrating that microbial growth was substrate-limited following the draught event. By teasing apart the environmental drivers of microbial growth on a long-term perspective, we demonstrated that a substantial change happened in the biogeochemistry of one of the most productive areas of the Mediterranean Sea. As planktonic microbes are the foundation of marine ecosystems, understanding their past dynamics may help to explain present and future changes.

Growth and metabolism of an aerobic thermophilic Geobacillus strain under simulated composite extreme reservoir conditions

The growth and metabolism of an aerobic thermophilic Geobacillus strain DM-2 under simulated composite extreme conditions of the Ng3, Gudao Block, Shengli Oilfield (China) with sufficient oxygen and nutrition were investigated. The experimental device for simultaneously simulating the temperature, pressure, salinity, porosity, permeability, fluid characteristics and development status of the target reservoir was designed, where the air assisted flooding technology was used. Particularly, the oxygen demand was estimated according to biotic and abiotic oxygen consumption. Despite the relatively lower rates of microbial growth and metabolism, the strain was able to grow under these conditions with the cell density increased from 106 to 108 cellsmL−1, and CH3COO− produced at the concentration of about 400 mg ⋅ L−1. Aerobic microorganisms, such as Geobacillus sp., may be promising candidates for microbial enhanced oil recovery and oily sewage treatment technology.

Regulation of Microbial Metabolic Rates Using CRISPR Interference With Expanded PAM Sequences.

Genome-editing CRISPR/Cas9 technology has led to the development of artificial transcriptional repressors, also known as CRISPR interference (CRISPRi). The deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) protein guided by crRNA can specifically bind to target DNA sequences, including promoters and operators, without DNA cleavage. Protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequence dependence may be disadvantageous in the design of target-specific CRISPRi, as the PAM sequence is essential for DNA cleavage by the CRISPR/Cas9 system. We constructed a chromosomally integrated dCas9 system (ΔaraBAD:dcas9) in Escherichia coli under the control of the L-arabinose-inducible PBAD promoter. Plasmids carrying various crRNAs with target sequences specific for the gal promoter (−10 region), and the galETK structural genes in the gal operon, were transformed into dCas9-expressing E. coli. Cellular growth and/or galactose metabolic rates were monitored in the presence or absence of gratuitous L-arabinose. D-galactose consumption and cell growth rates were partially retarded by targeting transcriptional elongation but were fully inhibited by targeting transcriptional initiation. Moreover, RT-qPCR analysis showed that CRISPRi with several modified PAM sequences can repress the transcription of target DNAs. These results indicate that cellular metabolic rates and cell growth can be controlled by targeting structural genes or regulatory regions using CRISPRi; also, a loose PAM sequence dependence can expand the DNA targets of CRISPRi.

Effect of Increasing Amounts of Ammonium Nitrogen Induced by Consecutive Mixture of Poultry Manure and Cattle Slurry on the Microbial Community during Thermophilic Anaerobic Digestion.

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD) is characterized by higher biogas production rates as a result of assumedly faster microbial metabolic conversion rates compared to mesophilic AD. It was hypothesized that the thermophilic microbiome with its lower diversity than the mesophilic one is more susceptible to disturbances introduced by alterations in the operating factors, as an example, the supply of nitrogen-rich feedstock such as poultry manure (PM). Laboratory scaled TAD experiments using cattle slurry and increasing amounts of PM were carried out to investigate the (in-) stability of the process performance caused by the accumulation of ammonium and ammonia with special emphasis on the microbial community structure and its dynamic variation. The results revealed that the moderate PM addition, i.e., 25% (vol/vol based on volatile substances) PM, resulted in a reorganization of the microbial community structure which was still working sufficiently. With 50% PM application, the microbial community was further stepwise re-organized and was able to compensate for the high cytotoxic ammonia contents only for a short time resulting in consequent process disturbance and final process failure. This study demonstrated the ability of the acclimated thermophilic microbial community to tolerate a certain amount of nitrogen-rich substrate.

Microbial metabolite fluxes in a model marine anoxic ecosystem.

Permanently anoxic regions in the ocean are widespread and exhibit unique microbial metabolic activity exerting substantial influence on global elemental cycles and climate. Reconstructing microbial metabolic activity rates in these regions has been challenging, due to the technical difficulty of direct rate measurements. In Cariaco Basin, which is the largest permanently anoxic marine basin and an important model system for geobiology, long-term monitoring has yielded time series for the concentrations of biologically important compounds; however, the underlying metabolite fluxes remain poorly quantified. Here, we present a computational approach for reconstructing vertical fluxes and in situ net production/consumption rates from chemical concentration data, based on a 1-dimensional time-dependent diffusive transport model that includes adaptive penalization of overfitting. We use this approach to estimate spatiotemporally resolved fluxes of oxygen, nitrate, hydrogen sulfide, ammonium, methane, and phosphate within the sub-euphotic Cariaco Basin water column (depths 150-900m, years 2001-2014) and to identify hotspots of microbial chemolithotrophic activity. Predictions of the fitted models are in excellent agreement with the data and substantially expand our knowledge of the geobiology in Cariaco Basin. In particular, we find that the diffusivity, and consequently fluxes of major reductants such as hydrogen sulfide, and methane, is about two orders of magnitude greater than previously estimated, thus resolving a long-standing apparent conundrum between electron donor fluxes and measured dark carbon assimilation rates.

Microbial metabolic rates in the Ross Sea: the ABIOCLEAR Project

The Ross Sea is one of the most productive areas of the Southern Ocean and includes several functionally different marine ecosystems. With the aim of identifying signs and patterns of microbial response to current climate change, seawater microbial populations were sampled at different depths, from surface to the bottom, at two Ross Sea mooring areas southeast of Victoria Land in Antarctica. This oceanographic experiment, the XX Italian Antarctic Expedition, 2004-05, was carried out in the framework of the ABIOCLEAR project as part of LTER-Italy. Here, microbial biogeochemical rates of respiration, carbon dioxide production, total community heterotrophic energy production, prokaryotic heterotrophic activity, production (by3H-leucine uptake) and prokaryotic biomass (by image analysis) were determined throughout the water column. As ancillary parameters, chlorophylla, adenosine-triphosphate concentrations, temperature and salinity were measured and reported. Microbial metabolism was highly variable amongst stations and depths. In epi- and mesopelagic zones, respiratory rates varied between 52.4–437.0 and 6.3–271.5 nanol O2l-1h-1; prokaryotic heterotrophic production varied between 0.46–29.5 and 0.3–6.11 nanog C l-1h-1; and prokaryotic biomass varied between 0.8–24.5 and 1.1–9.0 µg C l-1, respectively. The average heterotrophic energy production ranged between 570 and 103 mJ l-1h-1in upper and deeper layers, respectively. In the epipelagic layer, the Prokaryotic Carbon Demand and Prokaryotic Growth Efficiency averaged 9 times higher and 2 times lower, respectively, than in the mesopelagic one. The distribution of plankton metabolism and organic matter degradation was mainly related to the different hydrological and trophic conditions. In comparison with previous research, the Ross Sea results, here, evidenced a relatively impoverished oligotrophic microbial community, throughout the water column.

Microbial Carbon Source Metabolic Profile in Rice Rhizosphere and Non-rhizosphere Soils with Different Long-term Fertilization Management

Rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil samples under different long-term fertilization treatments including control without fertilizer (CK), chemical fertilization alone (NPK), rice residues combined with NPK (NPKS), 30% manure plus 70% chemical fertilizers (LOM), and 60% manure plus 40% chemical fertilizers (HOM) were collected from a paddy field in a red soil hilly area in Ningxiang City, Hunan Province, China. The characteristics of microbial carbon utilization in the soils were studied. Results of 18O-H2O tracer analysis showed that both soil microbial biomass carbon content (MBC) and microbial growth rate (CGrowth) were highest in the HOM treatment, whereas they were lowest in CK. In the rhizosphere soil, the highest basal respiration was observed in HOM, and the lowest values were in CK and NPK. Microbial carbon utilization efficiency (CUE) was highest in NPK but lowest in the LOM and HOM treatments. In non-rhizosphere soil, no significant differences between basal respiration and CUE were observed among the fertilization treatments. Results from MicroRespTM showed that the ability of microorganisms to metabolize exogenous carbon sources was higher in non-rhizosphere soil than in rhizosphere soil. The application of organic materials (rice residues or manure) increased the microbial metabolic rate of carboxylic acids, amino acids, and carbohydrates in the order carboxylic acids > amino acids and carbohydrates > complex compounds. Redundancy analysis of the microbial metabolism patterns of various carbon substrates showed that:① CK was well separated from the fertilization treatments; ② NPK was grouped with NPKS, whereas LOM and HOM were grouped together and were separate from NPK and NPKS. This indicates that the fertilization treatments changed the microbial carbon metabolism patterns. The above-mentioned results indicated that the fertilization treatments did not affect microbial CUE and basal respiration. However, exogenous carbon source input (such as root exudates) and the application of organic materials can increase microbial basal respiration, and thus, reduce microbial CUE.

Temperature-associated changes in groundwater quality

Climate change and urbanization are currently leading to a warming of the subsurface worldwide with yet unforeseen consequences for groundwater quality. The temperature-sensitivity of chemical and biological processes suggests that small temperature changes driven by current warming should have a detectable effect on the ecology of aquifers and the composition of groundwater itself, but field observations covering temperatures that are environmentally relevant are sparse. The analysis of a large data set provides field-scale evidence that, within the naturally occurring temperature range between 5 and 20 °C, temperature affects the quality of groundwater. A difference in temperature of +1 K is linked to a 4% decline in oxygen saturation and a pH drop of 0.02 due to the accumulation of carbon dioxide. Further, warmer groundwater shows signs of enhanced mineral weathering and higher concentrations of drinking water-relevant elements such as manganese. The observed trends in groundwater quality are consistent with a temperature-associated intensification of microbial metabolic rates and enhanced organic matter mineralization at warmer temperatures either within the aquifers or in the overlying soils. A times series analysis reveals that soil and groundwater temperatures in the studied area have been increasing at a rate of 0.1–0.4 K per decade -comparable to recent global warming- driving subtle, but distinct changes in groundwater pH and oxygen concentrations. The results confirm, that certain but central aspects of groundwater quality (pH, O2, pCO2, Mn, DOC) change due to warming, which may increase the costs for purification when drinking water is produced from groundwater resources and may turn some aquifers uninhabitable for groundwater biota.

Effects of ultraviolet radiation on metabolic rate and fitness of Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes.

Natural and anthropogenic changes (e.g., land use change, pollution) will alter many environmental factors in the coming years, including the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface. Alterations in solar radiation exposure is likely to impact the ecologies of many living organisms, including invertebrates that inhabit aquatic habitats. In this study, we assessed the effect of UV-B radiation on the metabolic rates and fitness (survival, development time, body size) of Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes and the activity of their microbial food resources in experimental aquatic microcosms. We exposed single-species cohorts of newly hatched Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens larvae and a control treatment with no larvae to three UV-B conditions that mimicked those in full-sun and shade in the field and to a control condition with no UV-B radiation. Our results indicated that UV-B radiation affected the metabolic rates of both Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens larvae, with significantly higher rates found in full-sun compared to shade and no-UV conditions, 8 and 15 days after exposure began. Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens survival was also affected by UV-B radiation condition, with significantly lower survival in full-sun compared to shade and no UV-B conditions. Microbial metabolic rates were consistently significantly lower in full-sun compared to shade and no-UV conditions, especially at 8 days of exposure. These results show that UV-B radiation at levels found in open spaces showed strong and important impacts on the metabolic rates and survival of Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens larvae. Decreased survival of Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens with higher UV-B radiation levels may be caused by both direct exposure to radiation as well as the indirect effects of reduced microbial food, resulting in greater metabolic demands and stress. Negative impacts of UV-B radiation on the survival of Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens are likely to have important implications for the distribution and abundance of these mosquitoes, and the transmission of pathogens that these two broadly distributed mosquitoes vector.