Browsing by Autor "Claire Gassie"

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Diurnal variability and biogeochemical reactivity of mercury species in an extreme high-altitude lake ecosystem of the Bolivian Altiplano
(Springer Science+Business Media, 2015) L. Alanoca; David Amouroux; Mathilde Monperrus; E. Tessier; Marisol Goñi‐Urriza; Rémy Guyoneaud; Darío Achá; Claire Gassie; Stéphane Audry; M.E. García
Extreme Arsenic Bioaccumulation Factor Variability in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
(Nature Portfolio, 2019) Géraldine Sarret; Stéphane Guédron; Darío Achá; Sarah Bureau; Florent Arnaud‐Godet; Delphine Tisserand; Marisol Goñi‐Urriza; Claire Gassie; Céline Duwig; Olivier Proux
Latin America, like other areas in the world, is faced with the problem of high arsenic (As) background in surface and groundwater, with impacts on human health. We studied As biogeochemical cycling by periphyton in Lake Titicaca and the mine-impacted Lake Uru Uru. As concentration was measured in water, sediment, totora plants (Schoenoplectus californicus) and periphyton growing on stems, and As speciation was determined by X-ray absorption spectroscopy in bulk and EDTA-extracted periphyton. Dissolved arsenic was between 5.0 and 15 μg L-1 in Lake Titicaca and reached 78.5 μg L-1 in Lake Uru Uru. As accumulation in periphyton was highly variable. We report the highest As bioaccumulation factors ever measured (BAFsperiphyton up to 245,000) in one zone of Lake Titicaca, with As present as As(V) and monomethyl-As (MMA(V)). Non-accumulating periphyton found in the other sites presented BAFsperiphyton between 1281 and 11,962, with As present as As(III), As(V) and arsenosugars. DNA analysis evidenced several taxa possibly related to this phenomenon. Further screening of bacterial and algal isolates would be necessary to identify the organism(s) responsible for As hyperaccumulation. Impacts on the ecosystem and human health appear limited, but such organisms or consortia would be of great interest for the treatment of As contaminated water.
Linking Microbial Activities and Low-Molecular-Weight Thiols to Hg Methylation in Biofilms and Periphyton from High-Altitude Tropical Lakes in the Bolivian Altiplano
(American Chemical Society, 2018) Sylvain Bouchet; Marisol Goñi‐Urriza; Mathilde Monperrus; Rémy Guyoneaud; Pablo Fernandez; Carlos Heredia; Emmanuel Tessier; Claire Gassie; David Point; Stéphane Guédron
The sources and factors controlling concentrations of monomethylmercury (MMHg) in aquatic ecosystems need to be better understood. Here, we investigated Hg transformations in sediments, periphyton associated with green algae's or aquatic plants, and benthic biofilms from the Lake Titicaca hydrosystem and compared them to the occurrence of active methylating microorganisms and extracellular Hg ligands. Intense Hg methylation was found in benthic biofilms and green algae's periphyton, while it remained low in sediments and aquatic plants' periphyton. Demethylation varied between compartments but remained overall in the same range. Hg methylation was mainly carried out by sulfate reducers, although methanogens also played a role. Its variability between compartments was first explained by the presence or absence of the hgcAB genes. Next, both benthic biofilm and green algae's periphyton exhibited a great diversity of extracellular low-molecular-weight (LMW) thiols (13 or 14 compounds) present at a range of a few nmol L-1 or μmol L-1 but clearly dominated by cysteine and 3-mercaptopropionic acid. Hg methylation was overall positively correlated to the total thiol concentrations, albeit to different extents according to the compartment and conditions. This work is the first examining the interplay between active methylating bacterial communities and extracellular ligands in heterotrophic biofilms and supports the involvement of LMW thiols in Hg methylation in real aquatic systems.