The role of microorganisms in mobilization and fixation of phosphorus in sediments

AbstractCycling of phosphorus (P) at the sediment/water interface is generally considered to be an abiotic process. Sediment bacteria are assumed to play only an indirect role by accelerating the transfer of electron from electron donors to electron acceptors, thus providing the necessary conditions for redox-and pH-dependent, abiotic sorption/desorption or precipitation/dissolution reactions.Results summarized in this review suggest that (1)in eutrophic lakes, sediment bacteria contain as much P as settles with organic detritus during one year(2)in oligotrophic lakes, P incorporated in benthic bacterial biomass may exceed the yearly deposition of bioavailable P several times(3)storage and release of P by sediment bacteria are redox-dependent processes(4)an appreciable amount of P buried in the sediment is associated with the organic fraction(5)sediment bacteria not only regenerate PO4, they also contribute to the production of refractory, organic P compounds, and(6)in oligotrophic lakes, a larger fraction of the P settled with organic detritus is converted to refractory organic compounds by benthic microorganisms than in eutrophic lakes. From this we conclude that benthic bacteria do more than just mineralize organic P compounds. Especially in oligotrophic lakes, they also may regulate the flux of P across the sediment/water interface and contribute to its terminal burial by the production of refractory organic P compounds.

[1]  R. Gächter,et al.  Does settling seston release soluble reactive phosphorus in the hypolimnion of lakes , 1985 .

[2]  G. Bratbak,et al.  Bacterial Biovolume and Biomass Estimations , 1985, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[3]  B. Riemann,et al.  Advances in estimating bacterial biomass and growth in aquatic systems , 1990, Archiv für Hydrobiologie.

[4]  R. J. Barsdate.  Phosphorus cycle of model ecosystems : significance for decomposer food chains and effect of bacterial grazers , 1974 .

[5]  D. Lean,et al.  Movements of Phosphorus Between its Biologically Important Forms in Lake Water , 1973 .

[6]  G. Bratbak,et al.  Enumeration and biomass estimation of planktonic bacteria and viruses by transmission electron microscopy , 1990, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[7]  M. Wentzel,et al.  Metabolic behaviour of Acinetobacter spp. in enhanced biological phosphorus removal - a biochemical model , 1986 .

[8]  F. A. Richards,et al.  The influence of organisms on the composition of sea-water , 1963 .

[9]  B. Shuter.  Size dependence of phosphorus and nitrogen subsistence quotas in unicellular microorganisms 1 , 1978 .

[10]  D. Lean,et al.  Chemical and Radiotracer Measurements of Phosphorus Uptake by Lake Plankton , 1983 .

[11]  D. Planas.  Phosphorus uptake rates in planktonic communities related to light gradient: With 6 figures in the text , 1978 .

[12]  I. Ahlgren,et al.  Internal nutrient loading in a eutrophic lake, reflected in seasonal variations of some sediment parameters: With 2 figures and 1 table in the text , 1985 .

[13]  D. Currie,et al.  The relative importance of bacterioplankton and phytoplankton in phosphorus uptake in freshwater1 , 1984 .

[14]  G. Bratbak,et al.  Bacterial dry matter content and biomass estimations , 1984, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[15]  J. W. G. Lund,et al.  A Manual on Methods for Measuring Primary Production in Aquatic Environments. , 1970 .

[16]  J. W. Groenestijn.  Accumulation and degradation of polyphosphate in Acinetobacter sp. , 1988 .

[17]  L. Habets,et al.  The accumulation of polyphosphate in Acinetobacter spp. , 1980 .

[18]  I. Röske,et al.  A simple method to distinguish between polyphosphate and other phosphate fractions of activated sludge , 1990 .

[19]  D. Lean,et al.  Phosphorus Dynamics in Lake Water , 1973, Science.

[20]  R. A. Osgood.  A hypothesis on the role of Aphanizomenon in translocating phosphorus , 1988, Hydrobiologia.

[21]  D. Schindler,et al.  The biogeochemistry of phosporus in an experimental lake environment: evidence for the formation of humic-metal-phosphate complexes: With 11 figures and 1 table in the text , 1975 .

[22]  T. Mayer,et al.  Rates of Accumulation of Phosphorus Forms in Lake Erie Sediments , 1976 .

[23]  J. Bloesch,et al.  Seasonal and vertical variation in the C : P ratio of suspended and settling seston of lakes , 1985, Hydrobiologia.

[24]  Tom Fenchel,et al.  Bacteria and Mineral Cycling. , 1981 .

[25]  P. Brassard,et al.  Orthophosphate Uptake Rate Constants are Mediated by the 103–104 Molecular Weight Fraction in Shield Lake Waters , 1984 .

[26]  Joseph S. Meyer,et al.  Contribution of bacteria to release and fixation of phosphorus in lake sediments , 1988 .

[27]  I. Kulaev.  Biochemistry of inorganic polyphosphates. , 1975, Reviews of physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology.

[28]  Gene E. Likens,et al.  An Ecosystem approach to aquatic ecology: Mirror Lake and its environment , 1985 .

[29]  R. Carignan,et al.  Measurement of total dissolved phosphorus in small volumes of iron rich interstitial water , 1992, Aquatic Sciences.

[30]  F. R. Hayes,et al.  Lake Water and Sediment , 1958 .

[31]  J. Kitchell,et al.  Phosphorus release from lake sediments as affected by chironomids , 1978 .

[32]  D. Schindler,et al.  Radiochemical Analysis of Orthophosphate Concentrations and Seasonal Changes in the Flux of Orthophosphate to Seston in Two Canadian Shield Lakes , 1980 .

[33]  A. Jensen,et al.  Growth and phosphorus status of limnetic phytoplankton and bacteria , 1988 .

[34]  T. Cappenberg,et al.  Influence of bacterial processes on the phosphorus release from sediments in the eutrophic Loosdrecht Lakes, The Netherlands , 1988 .

[35]  Wilhelm Einsele,et al.  Untersuchungen über die Entwicklung der physikalischen und chemischen Verhältnisse im Jahreszyklus in einem mäßig eutrophen See (Schleinsee bei Langenargen) , 1938 .

[36]  Clifford H. Mortimer,et al.  THE EXCHANGE OF DISSOLVED SUBSTANCES BETWEEN MUD AND WATER IN LAKES, II , 1941 .

[37]  D. Lean,et al.  A test of the hypothesis that abiotic phosphate complexing influences phosphorus kinetics in epilimnetic lake water , 1974 .

[38]  R. Psenner,et al.  Phosphorus fractionation advantages and limits of the method for the study of sediment p origins and interactions , 1988 .

[39]  Dietrich Uhlmann,et al.  A Remark on Microorganisms in Lake Sediments with Emphasis on Polyphosphate-accumulating Bacteria , 1988 .

[40]  C. H. Mortimer,et al.  CHEMICAL EXCHANGES BETWEEN SEDIMENTS AND WATER IN THE GREAT LAKES-SPECULATIONS ON PROBABLE REGULATORY MECHANISMS1 , 1971 .

[41]  R. Gächter.  Lake restoration. Why oxygenation and artificial mixing cannot substitute for a decrease in the external phosphorus loading , 1987, Swiss journal of hydrology.

[42]  I. Ahlgren,et al.  Seasonal dynamics of a cyanobacteria-dominated microbial community in surface sediments of a shallow, eutrophic lake , 1989, Aquatic Sciences.

[43]  B. Boström,et al.  Bacterial production, heat production and ATP-turnover in shallow marine sediments , 1990 .

[44]  J. Jones,et al.  A Microbiological Study of Sediments from the Cumbrian Lakes , 1979 .