Cable Bacteria beneath Photosynthetic Biofilm Sediment Community

Community ID CommunityMech:000145

Ecological State TRANSIENT

Environment marine surface sediment beneath photosynthetic biofilm
ENVO:00002007

A coastal sediment community in which long filamentous Desulfobulbaceae cable bacteria connect sulfide-rich deeper sediment to oxygen supplied near the sediment-water interface by an oxygenic photosynthetic biofilm. The system links sulfur oxidation, oxygen production, sulfate-reduction-driven sulfide supply, and centimeter-scale long-distance electron transfer.

Taxonomy

Taxon	Ontology ID	Functional Roles	Abundance
Desulfobulbaceae cable bacteria	NCBITaxon:213121	SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER CROSS_FEEDER	N/A
PMID:25416774 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "belonging to the family Desulfobulbaceae"
oxygenic algal biofilm	NCBITaxon:3041	PRIMARY_PRODUCER	N/A
PMID:25416774 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "a photosynthetic algal biofilm"
sediment sulfate-reducing bacteria	NCBITaxon:2	PRIMARY_DEGRADER CROSS_FEEDER	N/A
PMID:25416774 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "sediments with high rates of sulfate reduction"

Ecological Interactions

Taxon

Cross-feeding

Mutualism

Syntrophy

Competition

Commensalism

Niche partitioning

Colonization facilitation

Strain competition

Predation

Photosynthesis Stimulates Cable-Bacteria Electron Harvesting

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: oxygenic algal biofilm

Target Taxon: Desulfobulbaceae cable bacteria

Metabolites: dioxygen (CHEBI:15379)

Biological Processes:

photosynthesis (GO:0015979)
oxidation-reduction process (GO:0055114)

Evidence

PMID:25416774 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"a greater oxygen supply can enable cable bacteria"

Electrogenic Sulfide Oxidation across Sediment Redox Zones

SYNTROPHY

Source Taxon: sediment sulfate-reducing bacteria

Target Taxon: Desulfobulbaceae cable bacteria

Metabolites: hydrogen sulfide (CHEBI:16136), dioxygen (CHEBI:15379)

Biological Processes:

sulfate reduction (GO:0019419)
oxidation-reduction process (GO:0055114)

Evidence

PMID:25416774 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"harvesting electrons from free sulfide"
PMID:25416774 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"transferring these electrons along their longitudinal axes"

Sulfate Recycling in Contaminated Aquifer Sediments

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Desulfobulbaceae cable bacteria

Target Taxon: sediment sulfate-reducing bacteria

Metabolites: sulfate (CHEBI:16189)

Evidence

PMID:27058505 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"direct recycling of sulfate by electron transfer"

Associated Datasets

Dataset	Type	Repository	Accession
Cable bacteria photosynthetic biofilm sediment article Full-text article reporting sediment microsensor and biofilm-light perturbation evidence for rapid redox signal transmission by cable bacteria.	PHENOTYPE	OTHER	PMID-25416774

Environmental Factors

Factor	Value	Unit
diel light-dark cycle	Alternating light and dark periods	N/A
PMID:25416774 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "imposed diel light-dark cycle"
sulfide-rich deeper sediment	Free sulfide in deeper sediment horizons	N/A
PMID:25416774 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "free sulfide in deeper sediment horizons"
oxic-anoxic interface	Oxygenated surface over anoxic sediment	N/A
PMID:27058505 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "oxic-anoxic interfaces in aquifer sediments"