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Effect of Autotrophic Metabolism on Dissolved Organic Carbon in Yellowstone National Park. Kathryn Mayer Arizona State University Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Extreme environment. Geochemical variability. Biodiversity. Why Carbon in Hot Springs?. Microbial metabolism - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Kathryn Mayer
Arizona State University
Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Effect of Autotrophic Metabolism on Dissolved Organic Carbon in Yellowstone National Park
Why Carbon in Hot Springs?
• Microbial metabolism• Organic Carbon trends difficult to characterize
Biodiversity
Geochemical variability
Extreme environment
• Metabolism effects the organic carbon of a system
• Autotrophy – primary producers, makes organic C– Photosynthetic – Chemosynthetic
• Heterotrophy –uses C from autotrophs
“CH2O” + O2 CO2 + H2O
Project Heterotroph ‘06
Goal: Assess metabolism in 3 different hot spring/outflow systems by measuring amount of dissolved organic carbon (DOC)
Hot Spring Chemosynthetic Zone Photosynthetic Zone~73ºC
HS: Filtered Hot Spring Water + Zone WaterDI: Deionized Water + Zone WaterUC: Filtered Hot Spring Water
Hot Spring Chemosynthetic Zone Photosynthetic Zone~73ºC
Time (hours)
DO
C (
mg/
L)
DIUC HS DarkHS Light
Chemosynthesis
Heterotrophy
Photosynthesis
UC Control
DI Control
Conceptual Model
Methods
• Use TOC-V Analyzer to measure amount of DOC
NDIR Detector“CH2O” CO2680ºC
Mound Cone Chemotrophic
Hours
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
DO
C (
mg/
L)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Mound Cone Spring
Hours
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
DO
C (
mg/
L)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
DI Dark DI LightHS DarkHS LightUC DarkUC Light '06 Initial'05 Initial
Mound Cone Phototrophic
Hours
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
DO
C (
mg/
L)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
Results…
Not what we expected!
Skippy's Bathtub Spring
Hours
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
DO
C (
mg/
L)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
Skippy's Bathtub Chemotrophic
Hours
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
DO
C (
mg/
L)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Skippy's Bathtub Phototrophic
Hours
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
DO
C (
mg/
L)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
DI DarkDI LightHS DarkHS LightUC DarkUC Light'06 Initial'05 Initial
We should have called this Project Autotroph NOT Heterotroph
• Increases in DOC concentrations – Autotrophy
• C production in Dark and Light bottles– Photosynthesis & Chemosynthesis
• Genomic studies tell us there are autotrophs & heterotrophs present. This experiment does not show heterotrophy.
Future Work
• Study organic compound compositional changes with Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS)
• Experiment being planned for Summer ‘08
Thank you…Dr. Hilairy Hartnett & Katie Alexander
Women & Philanthropy
