Aerobic Sulfate Reduction in Microbial Mats

作者：Donald E. Canfield, David J. Des Marais · 发表于：Science · 年份：1991 · DOI：10.1126/science.11538266 · 被引用次数：400 · 研究领域：Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology、Mine drainage and remediation techniques、Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies

Measurements of bacterial sulfate reduction and dissolved oxygen (O2) in hypersaline bacterial mats from Baja California, Mexico, revealed that sulfate reduction occurred consistently within the well-oxygenated photosynthetic zone of the mats. This evidence that dissimilatory sulfate reduction can occur in the presence of O2 challenges the conventional view that sulfate reduction is a strictly anaerobic process. At constant temperature, the rates of sulfate reduction in oxygenated mats during daytime were similar to rates in anoxic mats at night: thus, during a 24-hour cycle, variations in light and O2 have little effect on rates of sulfate reduction in these mats.