The Winogradsky Column is an experimental setup used to study microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycling. It consists of a glass or plastic cylinder filled with a sediment-water mixture and exposed to air on one end to create oxygenated, microaerophilic, and anaerobic zones. Over time, distinct layers of microbes form based on their metabolic requirements for oxygen or sulfur, with diatoms, cyanobacteria, and phototrophs near the top and sulfur reducers like Desulfovibrio and Clostridium at the bottom.

1. The Winogradsky Column
Plastic wrap n
Aerobic
Zone
Microaerophilic
Zone
Anaerobic
Zone
Air
Water
02dominated mud
Rust colored zone
Red zone
Green zone
Anaerobic
H S dominated zone
(Black)
Organisms
Diatoms
Cyanobacteria
Protists
Algae
Aerobic sulphur oxidizing mos.
Thiobacillus, Thiothrix
Photoheterotrophs
Non-Sulphur bacteria
Rhodospirillium
Rhodopseudomonas
Purple sulphur bacteria
Chromatium
Green sulphur bacteria
Chlorobium
Sulphur reducing bacteria
Desulfovibrio
Clostridium
Chemistry
O high Slow
O low S high