Microwave, ultrasound and Bligh & Dyer extraction methods were tested for the yield of bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) from sediments and their potential to bias compound distributions. Differences in the concentration of abundant BHPs were not apparent for the three methods. However, the two phase solvent Bligh & Dyer extraction method generally showed greater extraction efficiency for minor BHPs containing an amino group. Our comparison demonstrates that all three methods are suitable for the extraction of BHPs, but quantitative comparisons of individual compounds between studies using different extraction approaches may be biased due to different extraction efficiency for amino BHPs. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of hydrodynamic events on the distribution of methane and its microbial turnover was investigated during the period from August 2011 to August 2013 along a transect from the eastern (EGB) to the western Gotland Basin (WGB), central Baltic Sea. The water column was characterized by a pronounced methane concentration gradient between the methane-rich deep anoxic and the methane-poor upper oxic water layer. In both basins, enhanced vertical turbulent diffusivities in fall (November 2011) and winter (February 2012) lead to an enhanced flux of methane from the deep anoxic water towards the oxic–anoxic transition zone (redox zone). In both basins, the increased vertical transport of methane in fall/winter was mirrored by reduced methane turnover times measured within the redox zone. Moreover, specific biomarkers indicative for aerobic methanotrophic bacteria implied an increase in the microbial population size from August 2011 till February 2012, indicating a methanotrophic community adapting to the variable methane fluxes. The deep water methane inventory of the EGB showed a seasonal pattern, with concentrations increasing during spring (May) and summer (August) and decreasing during fall (November) and winter (February) as a direct result of the seasonality of the vertical turbulent diffusivity. In contrast, the WGB showed no clear correlation between the seasons and the observed deep water methane variability. Here, the impact of lateral weak intrusions penetrating the deep water layer was identified as the main factor controlling the variability of the deep water methane concentration.Moreover, methane concentration and carbon stable isotopic data (δ13C CH4) demonstrate that the previously reported production of methane in the oxic water column below the thermocline occurs in the entire central Baltic Sea from May through November, and despite the large methane pool in the underlying anoxic deep water, might govern the moderate methane flux to the atmosphere in this area in summer.

The water column of the Landsort Deep, central Baltic Sea, is stratified into an oxic, suboxic, and anoxic zone. This stratification controls the distributions of individual microbial communities and biogeochemical processes. In summer 2011, particulate organic matter was filtered from these zones using an in situ pump. Lipid biomarkers were extracted from the filters to establish water-column profiles of individual hydrocarbons, alcohols, phospholipid fatty acids, and bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs). As a reference, a cyanobacterial bloom sampled in summer 2012 in the central Baltic Sea Gotland Deep was analyzed for BHPs. The biomarker data from the surface layer of the oxic zone showed major inputs from cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates, and ciliates, while the underlying cold winter water layer was characterized by a low diversity and abundance of organisms, with copepods as a major group. The suboxic zone supported bacterivorous ciliates, type I aerobic methanotrophic bacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and, most likely, methanogenic archaea. In the anoxic zone, sulfate reducers and archaea were the dominating microorganisms as indicated by the presence of distinctive branched fatty acids: archaeol and pentamethylicosane (PMI) derivatives, respectively. Our study of in situ biomarkers in the Landsort Deep thus provided an integrated insight into the distribution of relevant compounds and describes useful tracers to reconstruct stratified water columns in the geological record.

The Baltic Sea, one of the world's largest brackish-marine basins, established after deglaciation of Scandinavia about 17 000 to 15 000 yr ago. In the changeable history of the Baltic Sea, the initial freshwater system was connected to the North Sea about 8000 yr ago and the modern brackish-marine setting (Littorina Sea) was established. Today, a relatively stable stratification has developed in the water column of the deep basins due to salinity differences. Stratification is only occasionally interrupted by mixing events, and it controls nutrient availability and growth of specifically adapted microorganisms and algae. We studied bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs), lipids of specific bacterial groups, in a sediment core from the central Baltic Sea (Gotland Deep) and found considerable differences between the distinct stages of the Baltic Sea's history. Some individual BHP structures indicate contributions from as yet unknown redoxcline-specific bacteria (bacteriohopanetetrol isomer), methanotrophic bacteria (35-aminobacteriohopanetetrol), cyanobacteria (bacteriohopanetetrol cyclitol ether isomer) and from soil bacteria (adenosylhopane) through allochthonous input after the Littorina transgression, whereas the origin of other BHPs in the core has still to be identified. Notably high BHP abundances were observed in the deposits of the brackish-marine Littorina phase, particularly in laminated sediment layers. Because these sediments record periods of stable water column stratification, bacteria specifically adapted to these conditions may account for the high portions of BHPs. An additional and/or accompanying source may be nitrogen-fixing (cyano)bacteria, which is indicated by a positive correlation of BHP abundances with Corg and δ15N.

Filter samples from the oxic zone and suboxic zone of the physically stratified water column and sediment samples of the Gotland Deep, Baltic Sea, were analyzed for bacteriohopanepolyol (BHP) and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentrations. In total, eight BHPs were identified, with the greatest diversity in the suboxic zone. There, 35-aminobacteriohopane-31,32,33,34-tetrol (aminotetrol) and 35-aminobacteriohopane-30,31,32,33,34-pentol (aminopentol), whose concentrations decreased concurrently from the lower to the upper suboxic zone, indicated type I methanotrophic bacteria and thus aerobic oxidation of methane. The presence and activity of type I aerobic methanotrophic bacteria was further supported by the presence of C-13-depleted PLFAs, specifically 16:1 omega 8c and 16:1 omega 5c (delta C-13 as low as -41.2%). However, the relative amount of methanotroph-specific compounds was low (aminopentol, <0.2% of total BHPs; 16: 1 omega 8c, ca. 0.5% of total PLFAs), suggesting a minor contribution of aerobic methanotrophic bacteria to the particulate organic matter. The distinctive BHP pattern in the suboxic zone, including aerobic methanotroph biomarkers and a tentative marker for a pelagic redoxcline [putative 22S isomer of the ubiquitous 22R-bacteriohopanetetrol (BHT)], was mirrored in the sediment samples. Our data indicate that a major portion of the sedimentary hopanoids of the Gotland Deep is sourced from the suboxic part of the water column via an effective but unknown transport mechanism. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Filter samples from the oxic and suboxic zone of the physically stratified water column and sediment samples of the Gotland Deep, Baltic Sea, were analyzed for bacteriohopanepolyol (BHP) and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentrations.In total, eight BHPs were identified, with the greatest diversity in the suboxic zone.There,32,33,tetrol (aminotetrol) and 35-aminobacteriohopane-*Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: Berndmeyeretal_Revised.docx Click here to view linked References 30,31,32,33,34-pentol (aminopentol) indicated (type I) methanotrophic bacteria and thus aerobic consumption of methane, whose concentrations decreased concurrently from the anoxic to the suboxic zone.The presence and activity of type I aerobic methanotrophic bacteria was further supported by 13 C-depleted PLFAs, specifically 16:1ω8c and 16:1ω5c (δ 13 C as low as -41.2‰).However, the relative amount of methanotroph-specific compounds was low (aminopentol, < 0.2% of total BHPs; 16:1ω8c, ca.2% of total PLFAs), suggesting a minor contribution of aerobic methanotrophic bacteria to the particulate organic matter.The distinctive BHP pattern in the suboxic zone, including aerobic methanotroph biomarkers and a tentative marker for a pelagic redoxcline [putative 22S isomer of the ubiquitous 22R-bacteriohopanetetrol (BHT)], was mirrored in the sediment samples.Our data indicate that a major portion of the sedimentary hopanoids of the Gotland Deep is sourced from the suboxic part of the water column via an effective, as yet unknown transport mechanism.

Authigenic phosphorites from the Miocene Monterey Formation (California) including an autochthonous phosphatic laminite were analyzed for molecular biomarkers, element content, and sulfur isotopic composition of associated pyrite and sulfate to evaluate the role of bacterial activity in the precipitation of phosphate minerals. The phosphorites formed in a depositional environment typified by upwelling with dynamic bottom currents and hardground formation. Pyrite enclosed in the phosphorites shows δ34S values as low as −36.5‰ VCDT, which is consistent with bacterial sulfate reduction. In a three-step extraction—phosphorite dissolution—extraction procedure, molecular fossils of sulfate-reducing bacteria (di-O-alkyl glycerol ethers and short-chain branched fatty acids i- and ai-C15:0, i- and ai-C17:0, and 10MeC16:0) were preferentially released from the mineral lattice. This suggests that the molecular fossils were tightly bound to carbonate fluorapatite, indicating that sulfate-reducing bacteria were involved in mineral formation. A close association of sulfate-reducing bacteria with large sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, which was previously suggested to favor carbonate fluorapatite precipitation, could neither be confirmed nor excluded for the Miocene Monterey Formation phosphorites.

Water column samples taken in summer 2008 from the stratified Gotland Deep (central Baltic Sea) showed a strong gradient in dissolved methane concentrations from high values in the saline deep water (max. 504 nM) to low concentrations in the less dense, brackish surface water (about 4 nM). The steep methane-gradient (between 115 and 135 m water depth) within the redox-zone, which separates the anoxic deep part from the oxygenated surface water (oxygen concentration 0–0.8 mL L−1), implies a methane consumption rate of 0.28 nM d−1. The process of microbial methane oxidation within this zone was evident by a shift of the stable carbon isotope ratio of methane between the bottom water (δ13C CH4 = −82.4‰ and the redox-zone (δ13C CH4 = −38.7‰. Water column samples between 80 and 119 m were studied to identify the microorganisms responsible for the methane turnover in that depth interval. Notably, methane monooxygenase gene expression analyses for water depths covering the whole redox-zone demonstrated that accordant methanotrophic activity was probably due to only one phylotype of the aerobic type I methanotrophic bacteria. An imprint of these organisms on the particular organic matter was revealed by distinctive lipid biomarkers showing bacteriohopanepolyols and lipid fatty acids characteristic for aerobic type I methanotrophs (e.g., 35-aminobacteriohopane-30,31,32,33,34-pentol), corroborating their role in aerobic methane oxidation in the redox-zone of the central Baltic Sea.

Introduction Conclusions References