Sulfide intrusion in a habitat forming seagrass can be predicted from relative abundance of sulfur cycling genes in sediments

Matthew W Fraser; Belinda C Martin; Hon Lun Wong; Brendan P Burns; Gary A Kendrick

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161144

Sulfide intrusion in a habitat forming seagrass can be predicted from relative abundance of sulfur cycling genes in sediments

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Mar 15:864:161144. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161144. Epub 2022 Dec 27.

Authors

Matthew W Fraser¹, Belinda C Martin², Hon Lun Wong³, Brendan P Burns⁴, Gary A Kendrick⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Electronic address: matthew.fraser@uwa.edu.au.
² School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Ooid Scientific, White Gum Valley, WA 6162, Australia.
³ School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; Department of Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
⁴ School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; Australian Centre for Astrobiology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
⁵ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

PMID: 36584949
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161144

Abstract

Sulfide intrusion from sediments is an increasingly recognized contributor to seagrass declines globally, yet the relationship between sediment microorganisms and sulfide intrusion has received little attention. Here, we use metagenomic sequencing and stable isotope (³⁴S) analysis to examine this relationship in Cockburn Sound, Australia, a seagrass-dominated embayment with a gradient of sulfide stress and seagrass declines. There was a significant positive relationship between sulfide intrusion into seagrasses and sulfate reduction genes in sediment microbial communities, which was greatest at sites with long term seagrass declines. This is the first demonstration of a significant link between sulfur cycling genes present in seagrass sediments and sulfide intrusion in a habitat-forming seagrass that is experiencing long-term shoot density decline. Given that microorganisms respond rapidly to environmental change, the quantitative links established in this study can be used as a potential management tool to enable the prediction of sulfide stress on large habitat forming seagrasses; a global issue expected to worsen with climate change.

Keywords: Coastal; Conservation; Macrophyte; Metagenomics; Stable isotope; posidonia.

MeSH terms

Australia
Ecosystem
Geologic Sediments*
Microbiota*
Sulfides
Sulfur

Substances

Sulfides
Sulfur