Biodegradation Potential of Organically Enriched Sediments under Sulfate- and Iron-Reducing Conditions as Revealed by the 16S rRNA Deep Sequencing

Abstract

Organically enriched sediment has been found in water environments. The tsunami originating from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 deposited large amount of sediment, thus providing evidence about its huge accumulation in coastal marine areas possibly due to human activities such as fish culture and marine product processing of industries. Here, degradation potential of organically enriched sediment deposited on a coastal site at Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi, Japan was investigated under both sulfate- and iron-reducing conditions. Sediment slurry was prepared by mixing the sediment with artificial seawater. The effects of supplementation with sulfate and lepidocrocite (a crystalline Fe[III] oxide) on the structure and activity of the slurry microorganisms were examined by the combined physicochemical analyses and 16S rRNA deep sequencing. The sediment slurry was incubated for 5 days, during which the concentrations of TOC, sulfate, and ferrous iron remained at constant levels and the TG-DTA patterns did not change. The composition of dominant members of the microbial communities was stable, although the rare microbial populations slightly changed. The result in this study revealed that the organically enriched sediment was resistant to biodegradation under the sulfate- and iron-reducing conditions.