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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Bacterial communities in trace metal contaminated lake sediments are dominated by endospore-forming bacteria
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    Masson, Matthieu
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    Wunderlin, Tina
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    Kohler-Milleret, Roxane
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    Gascon Diez, Elena
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    Loizeau, Jean-Luc
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    Tercier-Waeber, Mary-Lou
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    Lake sediments in areas close to the outlet of wastewater treatment plants are sinks for pollutants. Bacterial communities in sediments are likely affected by the released effluents, but in turn they might modify the distribution and bioavailability of pollutants. On the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland, wastewater from the City of Lausanne is treated and discharged into the lake via an outlet pipe in the Vidy Bay. The objectives of this study were to assess (1) the impact of the treated wastewater release on the bacterial communities in the Vidy Bay sediments and (2) the potential link between bacterial communities and trace metal sediment content. Bacterial community composition and abundance were assessed in sediments collected in three areas with different levels of contamination. The main factors affecting bacterial communities were inferred by linking biological data with chemical analyses on these sediments. Near to the outlet pipe, large quantities of bacterial cells were detected in the three upper most cm (3.2 × 109 cells assessed by microscopy and 1.7 × 1010 copies of the 16S rRNA gene assessed by quantitative PCR, per gram of wet sediment), and the dominant bacterial groups were those typically found in activated sludge (e.g. Acidovorax defluivii and Hydrogenophaga caeni). Three samples in an area further away from the outlet and one sample close to it were characterized by 50 % of endospore-forming Firmicutes (Clostridium spp.) and a clear enrichment in trace metal content. These results highlight the potential role of endospore-forming Firmicutes on transport and deposition of trace metals in sediments.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Endospore-forming bacteria as new proxies to assess impact of eutrophication in Lake Geneva (Switzerland–France)
    Wunderlin, Tina
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    Corella, Juan Pablo
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    Loizeau, Jean-Luc
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    Girardclos, Stéphanie
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    Measurements of chemical composition and biological parameters of sediment cores are used as proxies for changes in past environmental conditions and more recently the human impact on ecosystem health. In this study, endospore-forming bacteria are proposed as a new biological proxy for such paleoecological reconstructions. A sediment core providing a record for the past 90 years (137Cs and magnetic susceptibility dating) was retrieved from the Rhone Delta of Lake Geneva. X-ray fluorescence was analyzed at a 0.2-cm resolution, while DNA extracts, elemental geochemistry and grain size were obtained at 4-cm intervals. The total number of bacteria and endospore-forming bacteria were quantified by qPCR using the 16S rRNA gene and the endosporulation-specific spo0A gene. Furthermore, a spo0A fragment was subjected to amplicon sequencing to define OTUs (operational taxonomic units) and the phylogenetic affiliation of the endospore formers. The results showed that despite the fact that the quantity of extracted DNA decreased with the age of the sediment, the abundance of endospore-forming bacteria remained constant. However, the diversity of this group of bacteria changed significantly, reflecting the eutrophication of the lake from 1960 to 1990. The shift in community composition was linked to the dominance of anaerobic clostridia-like endospore formers. This trend has reversed in the last 10 years of the record, suggesting a recovery after perturbation. This study shows that the abundance and diversity of endospore-forming bacteria can be used as proxies to reconstruct lake history. We hereby successfully introduce a new strategy for paleoecology that could also be applied to ocean sediments and long sediment cores.