Cable bacteria generate a firewall against euxinia in seasonally hypoxic basins

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  • Dorina Seitaj
    Department of Ecosystem Studies, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 4401 NT Yerseke, The Netherlands;
  • Regina Schauer
    Center for Microbiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark;
  • Fatimah Sulu-Gambari
    Department of Earth Sciences–Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands;
  • Silvia Hidalgo-Martinez
    Department of Ecosystem Studies, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 4401 NT Yerseke, The Netherlands;
  • Sairah Y. Malkin
    Department of Analytical, Environmental, and Geochemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
  • Laurine D. W. Burdorf
    Department of Ecosystem Studies, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 4401 NT Yerseke, The Netherlands;
  • Caroline P. Slomp
    Department of Earth Sciences–Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands;
  • Filip J. R. Meysman
    Department of Ecosystem Studies, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 4401 NT Yerseke, The Netherlands;

Description

<jats:title>Significance</jats:title><jats:p>Seasonal hypoxia is increasing in coastal areas worldwide, as more nutrients are delivered to the coastal ocean and water temperatures are rising due to climate change. Hypoxia reaches a particularly harmful stage when sulfide, which is highly toxic for marine life, is released to the bottom water. Here, we document a natural microbial mechanism that counteracts the release of free sulfide, thus preventing the most adverse stage of seasonal hypoxia. Electricity-generating cable bacteria produce a large pool of oxidized sedimentary iron minerals, which efficiently bind free sulfide. As cable bacteria are likely abundant in many seasonally hypoxic basins worldwide, their “firewall” mechanism may be widespread.</jats:p>

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