Research progress on microbes involved in lacustrine sulfur cycling

Abstract:

Lakes ecosystems respond sensitively to climate and environmental changes, and are hot spots for investigating biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur. Lakes (especially saline lakes) are characteristic of high concentration of sulfur compounds and sulfate, leading to active sulfur biogeochemical cycling, which is mainly mediated be microbes. Therefore it is of great importance to exploring microbial roles in lacustrine ecosystems to study sulfur biogeochemical processes and associated microbial communities in lakes. This review summarizes the recent progresses on microbial diversity, functional genes, metabolic pathways and activity involved in sulfur oxidation and sulfate reduction in lakes, and their responses to environmental conditions, followed by future research prospect on microbially mediated sulfur cycling in lakes.