%AWilhelm, Roland [Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science Cornell University Ithaca NY 14853 USA]%AWilhelm, Roland [Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853 USA]%AHanson, Buck [Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Vienna Austria]%AHanson, Buck [Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science University of Vienna Vienna Austria]%AChandra, Subhash [Cornell SIMS Laboratory, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Cornell University Ithaca NY 14853 USA]%AChandra, Subhash [Cornell SIMS Laboratory, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853 USA]%AMadsen, Eugene [Department of Microbiology Cornell University Ithaca NY 14853 USA]%AMadsen, Eugene [Department of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853 USA]%BJournal Name: Environmental Microbiology; Journal Volume: 20; Journal Issue: 10; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2023-09-15 22:04:37 %D2018%IWiley-Blackwell %JJournal Name: Environmental Microbiology; Journal Volume: 20; Journal Issue: 10; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2023-09-15 22:04:37 %K %MOSTI ID: 10073695 %PMedium: X %TCommunity dynamics and functional characteristics of naphthalene‐degrading populations in contaminated surface sediments and hypoxic/anoxic groundwater %XSummary

Earlier research on the biogeochemical factors affecting natural attenuation in coal‐tar contaminated groundwater, at South Glens Falls, NY, revealed the importance of anaerobic metabolism and trophic interactions between degrader and bacterivore populations. Field‐based characterizations of both phenomena have proven challenging, but advances in stable isotope probing (SIP), single‐cell imaging and shotgun metagenomics now provide cultivation‐independent tools for their study. We tracked carbon from13C‐labelled naphthalene through microbial populations in contaminated surface sediments over 6 days using respiration assays, secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging and shotgun metagenomics to disentangle the contaminant‐based trophic web. Contaminant‐exposed communities in hypoxic/anoxic groundwater were contrasted with those from oxic surface sediments to identify putative features of anaerobic catabolism of naphthalene. In total, six bacteria were responsible for naphthalene degradation.Cupriavidus,RalstoniaandSphingomonaspredominated at the earliest stages of SIP incubations and were succeeded in later stages byStenotrophomonasandRhodococcus.Metagenome‐assembled genomes provided evidence for the ecological and functional characteristics underlying these temporal shifts. Identical species ofStenotrophomonasandRhodococcuswere abundant in the most contaminated, anoxic groundwater. Apparent increases in bacterivorous protozoa were observed following exposure to naphthalene, though insignificant amounts of carbon were transferred between bacterial degraders and populations of secondary feeders.

%0Journal Article