Atmospheric CO and Hydrogen Uptake and CO Oxidizer Phylogeny for Miyake-jima, Japan Volcanic Deposits

Abstract

We have assayed rates of atmospheric CO and hydrogen uptake, maximum potential CO uptake and the major phylogenetic composition of CO-oxidizing bacterial communities for a variety of volcanic deposits on Miyake-jima, Japan. These deposits represented different ages and stages of plant succession, ranging from unvegetated scoria deposited in 1983 to forest soils on deposits > 800 yr old. Atmospheric CO and hydrogen uptake rates varied from −2.0 ± 1.8 − 6.3 ± 0.1 mg CO m⁻² d⁻¹ and 0.0 ± 0.4 − 2.0 ± 0.2, mg H₂ m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively, and were similar to or greater than values reported for sites on Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i, USA. At one of the forested sites, CO was emitted to the atmosphere, while two vegetated sites did not consume atmospheric hydrogen, an unusual observation. Although maximum potential CO uptake rates were also comparable to values for Kilauea, the relationship between these rates and organic carbon contents of scoria or soil indicated that CO oxidizers were relatively more abundant in Miyake-jima deposits. Phylogenetic analyses based on the large sub-unit gene for carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (coxL) indicated that many novel lineages were present on Miyake-jima, that CO-oxidizing Proteobacteria were prevalent in vegetated sites and that community structure appeared to vary more than composition among sites.