Name: microbial layers inside a winogradsky column
Uploaded: 2026-03-12T13:57:35.000Z
Duration: 1 min 27 s
Channel: JoVE

Колонка Виноградского — это самоорганизующаяся искусственная микробная экосистема для изучения микробного разнообразия и обмена веществ.Он строится путём наполнения стеклянного цилиндра наполовину органическим осадком.В качестве источника углерода добавляется измельченная бумага, как источник сульфатов — гипс, а карбонат кальция — в качестве буфера.Колонна заполняется водой и подвергается воздействию света.Со временем в колонке формируются отдельные микробные слои, формируя градиенты кислорода и серы.В верхней части цианобактерии осуществляют кислородный фотосинтез, производя кислород и поддерживая аэробную верхнюю зону.Ниже этого хемолитотрофные серные бактерии используют этот кислород для окисления сероводорода.В нижних аноксических зонах фиолетовые и зелёные серные бактерии осуществляют безкислородный фотосинтез, используя сероводород для фиксации углекислого газа.В более глубоких аноксических слоях анаэробные бактерии, такие как редукционеры и ферментеры, восстанавливают сульфат до сероводорода, который диффундирует вверх и используется серокисляющими бактериями, создавая вертикальный сернистый цикл.

Виноградская колонна

The Winogradsky Column

Колонка Виноградского предоставляет мощный инструмент для изучения микробной экологии и метаболических взаимодействий в стратифицированной, автономной среде. Эта искусственная экосистема, разработанная Сергеем Виноградским в конце XIX века, воспроизводит сложные биогеохимические градиенты, обнаруженные в естественных осадках, позволяя исследователям наблюдать сукцессию и взаимодействие микроорганизмов со временем.Колонна обычно собирается в прозрачный стеклянный цилиндр, наполовину заполненный осадком, смешанным с целлюлозой (например, измельченной бумагой), карбонатом кальция и гипсом. Целлюлоза служит источником углерода, карбонат кальция — буфером pH, а гипс — сульфатом. Оставшееся пространство заполняется водой из пруда, а колонна герметично закрывается, чтобы предотвратить испарение и загрязнение. Затем её помещают на свет для стимулирования фотосинтетической активности. В течение нескольких недель формируются химические градиенты кислорода и серы, способствующие формированию отдельных микробных зон.Верхний слой, подвергающийся воздействию света и кислорода, преобладает кислородными фототрофами, такими как цианобактерии и водоросли. Эти организмы фиксируют углекислый газ с помощью световой энергии, производя кислород как побочный продукт. Ниже, в микроаэрофильной зоне, бесцветные серные бактерии окисляют сероводород (H₂S) с помощью ограниченного доступного кислорода, образуя элементарную серу (S⁰) или сульфат (SO₄²⁻).Глубже в колонне, где кислород истощается, фиолетовые бактерии без серы используют фотогетеротрофию, опираясь на органические субстраты и свет для роста. Ещё глубже, в строго аноксических условиях, фиолетовые и зелёные серные бактерии осуществляют безоксигенный фотосинтез. Эти организмы используют H₂S в качестве донора электронов и фиксируют CO₂, способствуя первичному производству при отсутствии кислорода.У основания колонны анаэробные бактерии, такие как сульфатредуцирующие бактерии (например, Desulfovibrio spp.) и ферментеры, разлагают органическое вещество. Редукторы сульфатов используют сульфат в качестве конечного акцептора электронов, образуя H₂S. Этот H₂S диффундирует вверх, служа источником энергии для окисландующих серы и фотосинтезирующих бактерий в верхних слоях, в результате чего поддерживается замкнутый цикл серы.Колонна Виноградского благодаря своей стратифицированной структуре и динамическим взаимодействиям иллюстрирует сложность и взаимозависимость микробных экосистем, служа проницательной моделью для экологической микробиологии и биогеохимического цикла.

A Winogradsky column provides a powerful tool for studying microbial ecology and metabolic interactions in a stratified, self-contained environment. This ...

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Education

JoVE Core

Microbiology

Микробиология

Unit

Единица

Microbial Ecology

Микробная экология

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

ОСНОВНЫЕ ТЕРМИНЫ И ПОНЯТИЯ

microbial layers inside a winogradsky column

A Winogradsky column shows how microbial layers form in a simple, sealed ecosystem. It is a clear model for studying microbial ecology and how different metabolisms interact in sediment over time.

The setup uses a transparent glass cylinder. Half of it is filled with sediment mixed with cellulose, such as shredded paper, calcium carbonate, and gypsum. The cellulose provides a carbon source. Calcium carbonate buffers pH, and gypsum supplies sulfate. The rest of the cylinder is filled with pond water, then sealed to limit evaporation and contamination.

The column is placed in light so photosynthesis can occur. Over several weeks, oxygen and sulfur gradients develop. These chemical changes create distinct microbial zones in the sediment and water column.

The top layer, which has both light and oxygen, is dominated by oxygenic phototrophs such as cyanobacteria and algae. These organisms use light to fix carbon dioxide and release oxygen as a byproduct. Just below that, in the microaerophilic zone, colorless sulfur bacteria use the small amount of oxygen available to oxidize hydrogen sulfide, or H2S. This process can produce elemental sulfur, S0, or sulfate, SO4(2−).

Deeper in the column, oxygen becomes scarce. Purple nonsulfur bacteria live here and use photoheterotrophy, which means they use light and organic substrates for growth. Still deeper, in fully anoxic zones, purple sulfur bacteria and green sulfur bacteria carry out anoxygenic photosynthesis. They use H2S as an electron donor and fix CO2 even without oxygen.

At the base of the column, anaerobic bacteria break down organic matter. Sulfate-reducing bacteria, such as Desulfovibrio species, use sulfate as a terminal electron acceptor and produce H2S. Fermenters also help decompose the material. The H2S moves upward and becomes fuel for sulfur-oxidizing and photosynthetic bacteria, which helps sustain a closed sulfur cycle in the column.

Microbial Layers Inside a Winogradsky Column

microbial-layers-inside-a-winogradsky-column

introduction to microbial ecology

Microbial Communities in Soil and Extremes

Microbial ecology looks at how microorganisms live, interact, and adapt in different ecosystems. It also shows how these tiny organisms help shape nutrient cycling, energy flow, and environmental balance. An ecosystem includes living parts and non-living parts, and microbes respond to both. Microorganisms can form populations, which are groups of the same species living together at the same time. When populations from different species live and interact in the same place, they form a microbial...

ecological niche

Microbial Niches in Ecosystems

Microbial niches describe how microorganisms survive, grow, and interact in an ecosystem. A niche includes how a microbe gets resources, reproduces, and relates to other species in its environment. This idea helps explain microbial community dynamics, biogeography, and ecosystem function. A microorganism’s fundamental niche is the full range of conditions where it could survive, grow, and reproduce. These conditions include both biotic factors, such as living interactions, and abiotic factors,...

methods to assess microbial populations

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Measuring microbes in a sample helps scientists study health, ecology, and industry. Microbial counts can show how many cells are present, how diverse they are, and what they may be doing. To do this, researchers use both culture-based and molecular methods. A viable plate count is a classic culture method for estimating living microbes. The sample is first diluted step by step, then spread on nutrient agar plates. Each viable cell can grow into a visible colony, so the colonies can be counted.

methods to assess microbial communities

Measuring Microbial Diversity and Activity

Microbial communities include bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms. They live in many ecosystems and affect important environmental and biological processes. Scientists study these communities by looking at how many species are present, how many individuals each species has, and how evenly the species are spread out. Species richness is the number of different species in a sample. Species abundance is the relative amount of each species. Species evenness describes how uniformly the...

the winogradsky column

A Winogradsky column shows how microbial layers form in a simple, sealed ecosystem. It is a clear model for studying microbial ecology and how different metabolisms interact in sediment over time. The setup uses a transparent glass cylinder. Half of it is filled with sediment mixed with cellulose, such as shredded paper, calcium carbonate, and gypsum. The cellulose provides a carbon source. Calcium carbonate buffers pH, and gypsum supplies sulfate. The rest of the cylinder is filled with pond...

microenvironments

Microbial Niches in Tiny Habitats

Microorganisms live in tiny habitats called microenvironments. These spaces have their own physical and chemical conditions. Oxygen level, pH, temperature, light, and nutrient supply can all differ from the surrounding area. These local conditions strongly affect microbial growth, metabolism, and which species can live there. Microenvironments often have sharp gradients over very small distances. In soil, oxygen may be available at the particle surface but drop off just a few millimeters below.

microbial mats

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Microbial mats are layered communities of microbes that grow in response to changes in light, oxygen, and nutrients. These ecosystems are highly organized, and different microorganisms live at different depths. Biofilms are the early stage of this growth and are only a few millimeters thick. Mature microbial mats can grow to centimeter scale and show clear vertical structure. This layered arrangement lets microbes fill separate niches within a very small space. In cyanobacterial mats from hot...

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microbial interactions: cooperation

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microbial interactions: predation

How Microbes Hunt and Defend

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microbial interactions: competition

Microbial Competition and Niche Partitioning

Microbial competition shapes how bacteria and other microbes share space and resources. In shared environments, they compete for nutrients, space, or light. The strength of this competition depends on the environment, including nutrient levels, space limits, and how many microbial species are present. These interactions help determine the structure, function, and resilience of microbial communities. Microbial competition is usually grouped into exploitative competition and interference...

microbial interactions: parasitism

Microbial Parasites and Host Dependence

Microbial parasites depend on a host for nutrients and shelter, and this dependence often harms the host. In parasitism, only the parasite benefits. This is different from mutualism, where both organisms gain from the relationship. Microbial parasites are classified by where they live in or on the host. Ectoparasites stay on the host’s surface, such as the skin or outer tissues, and take in nutrients from outside. Endoparasites live inside the host’s body and invade tissues or organs.

microbe-plant interactions

How Plant Microbes Affect Growth

Plant microbes can help, harm, or simply live alongside their hosts. These microbe-plant interactions shape plant growth, health, and ecosystem function. The plant microbiome includes bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and viruses, and these organisms may live on the plant surface, inside plant tissues, or in symbiosis throughout the plant. Some of the most important beneficial partnerships involve mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi form close connections with roots and are grouped as arbuscular...

microbes and the carbon cycle

How Microbes Move Carbon Through Earth

Microbes move carbon through Earth’s major reservoirs and help drive the carbon cycle. Carbon shifts among the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere, where it supports life and helps regulate climate. It commonly cycles as carbon dioxide (CO2), the oxidized form of carbon, but methane (CH4) and organic compounds also matter. Photosynthetic microbes take in atmospheric CO2 and turn it into organic carbon. Cyanobacteria are especially important because they carry out oxygenic...

microbes and methanogenesis

How Microbes Produce Methane

Methane production in anaerobic ecosystems depends on methanogenic archaea and the microbes that work with them. This process happens where oxygen is absent, such as wetlands, sediments, and animal gastrointestinal tracts. In these anoxic habitats, aerobic respiration cannot run, so microbes use other pathways to break down organic matter. Anaerobic decomposition starts when cellulolytic bacteria, or cellulose-digesting bacteria, hydrolyze dead organic material into simple sugars. Other...

microbes and the nitrogen cycle

Microbial Steps in the Nitrogen Cycle

Microbes drive the nitrogen cycle by changing nitrogen into forms that plants and other organisms can use. This biogeochemical cycle keeps nitrogenous compounds balanced in ecosystems. It also supports plant growth and microbial growth. Nitrogen fixation begins the cycle by converting inert atmospheric nitrogen gas, N2, into ammonia, NH3. This step depends on nitrogenase enzymes. Free-living diazotrophs do this on their own. Aerobic bacteria such as Azotobacter spp. and anaerobic bacteria such...

microbes and the sulfur cycle

Sulfur Cycling Through Microbial Reactions

Sulfur cycling depends on microbial reactions that move sulfur through rocks, water, soil, and the air. In Earth systems, sulfur shifts among inorganic forms such as sulfate, elemental sulfur, and sulfide. These changes happen through both abiotic processes and biological activity in oxic and anoxic environments. Sulfate is the most oxidized form of sulfur. It is stored mainly in rocks, marine sediments, and ocean water, where it acts as a long-term reservoir in the global sulfur cycle. In...

microbes and other elemental cycles

Microbes Driving Iron and Manganese Cycles

Microbes drive iron and manganese cycling in aquatic environments by changing these metals between reduced and oxidized forms. These reactions are especially important along redox gradients, where oxygen levels shift across stratified water layers. The microbes use these metals for energy, growth, and structural needs. In oxygen-rich surface waters, iron is usually present as insoluble ferric iron, Fe(III). Some bacteria release siderophores, which are small organic molecules that bind ferric...

marine microbial ecology

Microbial Life in the Ocean

Marine microbial life is shaped by salinity, low nutrients, and changing oxygen levels. These physical and chemical limits influence which microbes can survive and how they function. They also affect how ocean microbes help drive nutrient and carbon cycling. Small cell size is common in these environments because it gives microbes a larger surface-to-volume ratio. That helps them take up nutrients more efficiently when nutrients are scarce. In estuaries, where salinity changes often,...

deep sea microbial ecology

Deep Sea Microbes and Extreme Conditions

Deep sea microbes live in one of Earth’s harshest environments. The deep ocean is far below the sunlit photic zone, which usually reaches the upper 100 to 200 meters of open water. Below that layer, the bathypelagic and abyssal zones stretch from about 1,000 to 6,000 meters, and hadal trenches go even deeper. This region is dark, cold, and highly pressurized. Temperatures are usually around 2 to 3°C, although hydrothermal vents can be slightly warmer. Pressure rises by about 1 atmosphere for...

freshwater microbial ecology

Microbes in Streams, Lakes, and Rivers

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soil microbial ecology

How Soil Microbes Cycle Nutrients

Soil microbes drive nutrient cycling, organic matter turnover, and ecosystem stability. A gram of soil can contain thousands of bacterial and archaeal taxa, but their shared job is what helps sustain land ecosystems. Their activity changes the way carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients move through soil. Soil is a patchwork of minerals, organic matter, water, and air. Microbes live in tiny microhabitats shaped by pore size, moisture, oxygen, and nutrients. Sandy soils drain fast and tend to...

key terms and concepts

Explore how a Winogradsky column forms distinct microbial layers, from oxygenic phototrophs at the top to sulfate reducers at the base.

Microbial Layers Inside a Winogradsky Column | JoVE K12

JoVE Core Microbiology provides an engaging introduction to the microbial world and its influence on health, industry, and the environment. This comprehensive collection covers key concepts such as microbial structure, metabolism, genetics, and ecology. It introduces essential laboratory techniques and microscopy methods through visually engaging animations. Corresponding scientist-in-action videos bridge classroom concepts with real-world research and applications.

microbiology

Microbial Layers Inside a Winogradsky Column

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