Anthropogenic remediation of heavy metals selects against natural microbial remediation

Abstract

In an era of unprecedented environmental change, there have been increasing ecological and global public health concerns associated with exposure to anthropogenic pollutants. While there is a pressing need to remediate polluted ecosystems, human intervention might unwittingly oppose selection for natural detoxification, which is primarily carried out by microbes. We test this possibility in the context of a ubiquitous chemical remediation strategy aimed at targeting metal pollution: the addition of lime-containing materials. Here, we show that raising pH by liming decreased the availability of toxic metals in acidic mine-degraded soils, but as a consequence selected against microbial taxa that naturally remediate soil through the production of metal-binding siderophores. Our results therefore highlight the crucial need to consider the eco-evolutionary consequences of human environmental strategies on microbial ecosystem services and other traits.

Community coalescence: an eco-evolutionary perspective

“…Finally, competition can also lead to exploitative interactions, where individuals benefit from 'public goods' produced by other species, such as antibiotic degrading enzymes [59] and siderophores that remediate toxic heavy metals [60]. How cheats impact coalescence outcomes is royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rstb Phil.…”

Copper Selects for Siderophore-Mediated Virulence in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

“…As the copper concentrations used in this study were chosen for their environmental relevance, we suggest our ndings could be relevant to natural communities inhabiting polluted environments. We note that remediation techniques, principally lime addition, are used in some metal-polluted areas to reduce their toxic effect (54), and this can lower community siderophore production (55). Extending experiments such as those described here to the level of natural communities could shed light on the consequences of metal pollution and metal remediation on bacterial siderophore production and virulence.…”

Copper selects for siderophore-mediated virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

“…As the copper concentrations used in this study were chosen for their environmental relevance, we suggest our findings could be relevant to natural communities inhabiting polluted environments. We note that remediation techniques, principally lime addition, are used in some metal-polluted areas to reduce their toxic effect (54), and this can lower community siderophore production (55). Extending experiments such as those described here to the level of natural communities could shed light on the consequences of metal pollution and metal remediation on bacterial siderophore production and virulence.…”