Biomaterial Database

Physical and chemical factors affecting microbial biomass and activity in contaminated subsurface riverine sediments. 2006

Jennifer J Mosher, and Robert H Findlay, and Carl G Johnston

Department of Biological Sciences, Youngstown State University, OH 44555, USA. Moshe001@bama.ua.edu

Over 80 years of direct discharge of industrial effluents into the Mahoning River, located in northeastern Ohio, USA, has led to the accumulation of a wide variety of pollutants within its sediments. This study examined the physical and chemical parameters, including lipophilic pollutants, affecting microbial activity and biomass in subsurface (10-40 cm horizon) sediments. Microbial biomass was higher in anthropogenically contaminated sediments, and step-wise linear regression showed that approximately 82% of the variation in microbial biomass could be explained by total hexane extractable hydrocarbons, sediment particle size, and water content. There was no correlation between microbial activity and biomass. Independent variables influencing anaerobic activity were temperature and water holding capacity. The results of this study indicate that freshwater, sedimentary anaerobic microbial communities respond to a range of environmental parameters, many of which influence subsurface river sediments, and that lipophilic pollutants, when present, can cause increases in total microbial biomass.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007220	Industrial Waste	Worthless, damaged, defective, superfluous or effluent material from industrial operations.	Waste, Industrial,Industrial Wastes,Wastes, Industrial
D009820	Ohio	State bounded on the north by Michigan and Lake Erie, on the east by Ohio River and Pennsylvania, on the south by Ohio River, and on the west by Indiana.
D005618	Fresh Water	Water containing no significant amounts of salts, such as water from RIVERS and LAKES.	Freshwater,Fresh Waters,Freshwaters,Water, Fresh,Waters, Fresh
D005658	Fungi	A kingdom of eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms that live parasitically as saprobes, including MUSHROOMS; YEASTS; smuts, molds, etc. They reproduce either sexually or asexually, and have life cycles that range from simple to complex. Filamentous fungi, commonly known as molds, refer to those that grow as multicellular colonies.	Fungi, Filamentous,Molds,Filamentous Fungi,Filamentous Fungus,Fungus,Fungus, Filamentous,Mold
D006838	Hydrocarbons	Organic compounds that primarily contain carbon and hydrogen atoms with the carbon atoms forming a linear or circular structure.	Hydrocarbon,Saturated Hydrocarbons,Unsaturated Hydrocarbons,Hydrocarbons, Saturated,Hydrocarbons, Unsaturated
D000693	Anaerobiosis	The complete absence, or (loosely) the paucity, of gaseous or dissolved elemental oxygen in a given place or environment. (From Singleton & Sainsbury, Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2d ed)	Anaerobic Metabolism,Anaerobic Metabolisms,Anaerobioses,Metabolism, Anaerobic,Metabolisms, Anaerobic
D001419	Bacteria	One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.	Eubacteria
D012988	Soil Microbiology	The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the soil. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.	Microbiology, Soil
D012989	Soil Pollutants	Substances which pollute the soil. Use for soil pollutants in general or for which there is no specific heading.	Soil Pollutant,Pollutant, Soil,Pollutants, Soil
D013696	Temperature	The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.	Temperatures