Microbial Sulfate Reduction Measured by an Automated Electrical Impedance Technique

Electrical impedance measurements are used to investigate the rates of sulfate reduction by pure cultures of and sediments containing sulfur-reducing bacteria. Changes in the electrical impedance ratios of pure cultures of Desulfovibrio aestuarii and samples of reduced sediments from San Francisco Bay were measured by a Bactometer 32, and sulfate reduction was followed by measuring the incorporation of (S-35) sulfate into metal sulfides. The growth of the bacteria in pure culture is found to result in an increase of 0.2200 in the impedance ratio within 24 h, accompanied by increases in protein, ATP, sulfide and absorptance at 660 nm, all of which are inhibited by the addition of molybdate. Similar responses were observed in the sediments, although impedance ratio responses were not completely inhibited upon the addition of molybdate, due to the presence of nonsulfate-respiring microorganisms. Experiments conducted with sterile media and autoclaved sediments indicate that the presence of H2S together with iron is responsible for the impedance effect, and sulfate reduction rates ranging between 0.85 and 1.78 mmol/l per day are estimated for the sediments by the impedance technique.