ED41A-0855
Electron Shuttling Capacity of Solid-Phase Organic Matter in Forest Soils
Abstract:
Soil organic matter, as an electron shuttle, plays an important role in regulating the biogeochemical cyclesof metals, especially the redox reactions for iron. Microorganisms can reduce soil organic matter under
anaerobic conditions, and biotically-reduced soil organic matter can abiotically donate electrons to ferric
oxides. Such soil organic matter-mediated electron transport can facilitate the interactions between
microorganisms and insoluble terminal electron acceptors, i.e. iron minerals. Most previous studies have
been focused on the electron shuttling processes through dissolved soil organic matter, and scant
information is available for solid-phase soil organic matter. In this study, we aim to quantify the electron
accepting capacity for solid-phase organic matter in soils collected from four different forests in the
United States, including Truckee (CA), Little Valley (NV), Howland (ME) and Hart (MI). We used
Shewanella oneidensisMR-1 to biotically reduce soil slurries, and then quantified the electrons
transferred to solid-phase and solution-phase organic matter by reacting them with Fe(III)-nitrilotriacetic
acid (Fe(III)-NTA). The generation of Fe(II) was measured by a ferrozine assay to calculate the electron
accepting capacity of soil organic matter. Our preliminary results showed that the Truckee soil organic
matter can accept 0.51±0.07 mM e-/mol carbon. We will measure the electron accepting capacity for four
different soils and correlate them to the physicochemical properties of soils. Potential results will provide
information about the electron accepting capacity of solid-phase soil organic matter and its governing
factors, with broad implication on the coupled biogeochemical cycles of carbon and iron.