Microbial Fe cycling and mineralization in sediments of an acidic, hypersaline lake (Lake Tyrell, Victoria, Australia)

Lake Tyrrell is a variably acidic, hypersaline, Fe-rich lake located in Victoria, Australia. Terrestrial acid saline lakes like Lake Tyrrell may be analogs for ancient Martian surface environments, as well as possible extant subsurface environments. To investigate the potential for microbial Fe cycling under acidic conditions and high salt concentration, we collected sediment core samples during three field trips between 2006 and 2008 from the southern, acidic edge of the lake. Materials from the cores were used for chemical and mineralogical analyses, as well as for molecular (16S rRNA genes) and culture-based microbiological studies. Near-surface (< 1 m depth) pore fluids contained low but detectable dissolved oxygen (ca. 50 uM), significant dissolved Fe(II) (ca. 500 uM), and nearly constant pH of around 4 - conditions conducive to enzymatic Fe(II) oxidation. High concentrations of Fe(III) oxides begin accumulate at a depth of ca. 10 cm, and may reflect the starting point for formation of massive iron concretions that are evident at and beneath the sediment surface. MPN analyses revealed low (10-100 cells/mL) but detectable populations of aerobic, halophilic Fe(II)-oxidizing organisms on the sediment surface and in the near-surface ground water. With culture-dependent methods at least three different halotolerant lithoautotrophic cultures growing on Fe(II), thiosulfate, or tetrathionate from different acidic sites were obtained. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that these organisms are similar to previous described gamma proteobacteria Thiobacillus prosperus (95%), Halothiobacillus kellyi (99%), Salinisphaera shabanense (95%) and a Marinobacter species. (98%). 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing data from two different sites with a pH range between 3 and 4.5 revealed a dominance of gamma proteobacteria. 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing libraries from both cores were dominated by sequences related to the Ectothiorhodospiraceae family, which includes the taxa corresponding to the pure culture isolates. Our results suggest that microbial Fe(II) oxidation is a major biogeochemical process in the acidic and Fe-rich sediments of Lake Tyrrell, and may provide a model for how microbially-catalyzed Fe(II) oxidation under hypersaline conditions could occur in subsurface Martian environments.