Bioavailability of Mineral-Bound Iron to a Snow Algal-Bacterial Coculture and Implications for Albedo-Altering Snow Algal Blooms.

Snow algae can form large-scale blooms across the snowpack surface and near-surface environments. These pigmented blooms can decrease snow albedo and increase local melt rates, and they may impact the global heat budget and water cycle. Yet, the underlying causes for the geospatial occurrence of these blooms remain unconstrained. One possible factor contributing to snow algal blooms is the presence of mineral dust as a micronutrient source. We investigated the bioavailability of iron (Fe)-bearing minerals, including forsterite (Fo, MgFeSiO), goethite, smectite, and pyrite as Fe sources for a -bacterial coculture through laboratory-based experimentation. Fo was capable of stimulating snow algal growth and increased the algal growth rate in otherwise Fe-depleted cocultures. Fo-bearing systems also exhibited a decrease in the ratio of bacteria to algae compared to those of Fe-depleted conditions, suggesting a shift in microbial community structure. The coculture also increased the rate of Fo dissolution relative to that of an abiotic control. Analysis of 16S rRNA genes in the coculture identified , , and , all of which are commonly found in snow and ice environments. Archaea were not detected. and , which are known to enhance mineral weathering rates, comprised two of the top eight (>1%) operational taxonomic units (OTUs). These data provide unequivocal evidence that mineral dust can support elevated snow algal growth under otherwise Fe-depleted growth conditions and that snow algal microbial communities can enhance mineral dissolution under these conditions. Fe, a key micronutrient for photosynthetic growth, is necessary to support the formation of high-density snow algal blooms. The laboratory experiments described herein allow for a systematic investigation of the interactions of snow algae, bacteria, and minerals and their ability to mobilize and uptake mineral-bound Fe. Results provide unequivocal and comprehensive evidence that mineral-bound Fe in Fe-bearing Fo was bioavailable to snow algae within an algal-bacterial coculture. This evidence includes (i) an observed increase in snow algal density and growth rate, (ii) decreased ratios of bacteria to algae in Fo-containing cultures relative to those of cultures grown under similarly Fe-depleted conditions with no mineral-bound Fe present, and (iii) increased Fo dissolution rates in the presence of algal-bacterial cocultures relative to those of abiotic mineral controls. These results have important implications for the role of mineral dust in supplying micronutrients to the snow microbiome, which may help support dense snow algal blooms capable of lowering snow albedo and increasing snow melt rates on regional, and possibly global, scales.