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Full-Text Articles in Microbiology

Diversity And Function Of Sulfur Cycling Microorganisms In Sediments From Subglacial Lake Whillans, Antarctica, Alicia Marie Purcell Dec 2014

Diversity And Function Of Sulfur Cycling Microorganisms In Sediments From Subglacial Lake Whillans, Antarctica, Alicia Marie Purcell

Masters Theses

There is a growing consensus that metabolically and phylogenetically diverse assemblages of microorganisms mediate subglacial nutrient and elemental cycling. Subglacial Lake Whillans (SLW), located under 801 m of glacial ice, was recently penetrated using environmentally clean protocols. SLW is a permanently dark, cold (-0.5 °C [degrees Celsius]), and shallow (~2.2 m) freshwater lake beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The presence and diversity of key functional genes involved in dissimilatory sulfur oxidation and reduction were examined at various depths in two sediment cores taken from SLW. Our data show a diversity of sulfur transformation genes throughout the top 34 cm …


Urea As A Nitrogen Source For Microcystis Aeruginosa, Bernard Shafer Belisle Aug 2014

Urea As A Nitrogen Source For Microcystis Aeruginosa, Bernard Shafer Belisle

Masters Theses

Over the last decade, Lake Erie has experienced annual harmful algal blooms events dominated by the toxic cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. It is still unclear what causes Microcystis blooms to occur, but there is broad agreement that eutrophication of freshwater systems from anthropogenic sources (urban, industrial, etc.), has led to their proliferation. In particular, the organic compound urea has been implicated as an important source of anthropogenic nitrogen, due to its increased use in agricultural practices. Currently, urea constitutes more than 50% of the nitrogen used for agricultural fertilizer globally, and its usage has increased more than a 100-fold over …