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Sulfate-reducing bacteria inhabiting natural corrosion deposits from marine steel structures

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

In the present study, investigations were conducted on natural corrosion deposits to better understand the role of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the accelerated corrosion process of carbon steel sheet piles in port environments. We describe the abundance and diversity of total and metabolically active SRB within five natural corrosion deposits located within tidal or low water zone and showing either normal or accelerated corrosion. By using molecular techniques, such as quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis, and sequence cloning based on 16S rRNA, dsrB genes, and their transcripts, we demonstrated a clear distinction between SRB population structure inhabiting normal or accelerated low-water corrosion deposits. Although SRB were present in both normal and accelerated low-water corrosion deposits, they dominated and were exclusively active in the inner and intermediate layers of accelerated corrosion deposits. We also highlighted that some of these SRB populations are specific to the accelerated low-water corrosion deposit environment in which they probably play a dominant role in the sulfured corrosion product enrichment.

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Acknowledgments

The work was carried out with a financial grant from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel of the European Community (project number: RFSR-CT-2008-00018). We would like to thank all partners of the MICSIPE project for their useful discussions and collaborations.

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Author notes

  1. Sandrine Païssé

    Present address: LISBP-INSA Toulouse, EAD-9, 135 Avenue de Rangueil, Toulouse CEDEX 04, 31077, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LU Microbiologie Environnementale et Biologie Evolutive (MEBE), Université de Rouen, UFR des Sciences, IRESE B, Place Emile Blondel, Mont-Saint-Aignan, 76821, France

    Sandrine Païssé & Laurent Quillet

  2. CNRS, UMR7621, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Microbienne LOMIC, Banyuls-sur-Mer, 66651, France

    Jean-François Ghiglione

  3. UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7621, Laboratoire ARAGO, Banyuls-sur-Mer, 66651, France

    Jean-François Ghiglione

  4. Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, 2628, The Netherlands

    Florence Marty, Ben Abbas & Gerard Muyzer

  5. CORRODYS, Centre de Corrosion Marine et Biologique, Hall de Technologies, 145 Chemin de la Crespinière, BP 48, Cherbourg-Octeville, 50130, France

    Hervé Gueuné

  6. Titania, Ensayos y Proyectos SL. Parque Tecnologico Tecnobahia, Edificio RETSE, Nave 4, Carretera Sanlucar Km.7, El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz, 11500, Spain

    José Maria Sanchez Amaya

  7. Department of Aquatic Microbiology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1090, The Netherlands

    Gerard Muyzer

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Correspondence to Sandrine Païssé.

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Païssé, S., Ghiglione, JF., Marty, F. et al. Sulfate-reducing bacteria inhabiting natural corrosion deposits from marine steel structures. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 97, 7493–7504 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-4464-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-012-4464-7

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