Ecological Effects of Heavy Metal Pollution on Soil Microbial Community Structure and Diversity on Both Sides of a River around a Mining Area

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to understand the characteristics of heavy metal pollution caused by mining activities on the two sides of the Shun’an river and the response of soil microorganisms to the habitats by different contamination levels and vegetation. This paper selected soil samples from the banks of the Shun’an River near the Shizishan mining area, which is at the left of the river, in Tongling, Anhui Province, China. Using Illumina MiSeq 2500 technology, we analyzed the relationship between environmental factors and microbial communities. As the distance from the mining area increased, the heavy metal comprehensive pollution and potential risk value decreased. Additionally, the pollution severity and risk value of the left bank, where the mining area lies, were generally higher than those of the right bank. Because the symmetric sampling points on both banks of the river had similar planting types, their environmental factors and microbial community structure were similar and clustered. However, under different vegetation, the paddy soils tended to have a higher nutrient content and community richness and diversity than the vegetable fields or the abandoned land. It was found that soil microbial communities in this area were mostly affected by pH and Nemerow pollution index (PN). The pH significantly affected the abundance and structure of most microorganisms. In addition, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes had significant tolerance to Zn, Pb, and Cd. By exploring the potential use of these tolerant microorganisms, we seek to provide strains and the theoretical basis for the bioremediation of areas contaminated by heavy metal.

Heavy Metal Tolerance Genes Associated With Contaminated Sediments From an E-Waste Recycling River in Southern China

“…Contamination with Cd, Hg, Pb, and Zn was also serious, with concentrations at least ten times higher than the maximum permissible concentration according to EQS. Generally, the concentrations of the heavy metals showed a decreasing tendency away from the source of pollution and along the river flow ( Zhao et al, 2020 ), in which S1 had the highest concentration of each metal except for Hg and Pb. The average concentrations of all eight measured metals were higher than those found in other heavy metal-contaminated sediments ( Chen and Kandasamy, 2008 ; Gao and Chen, 2012 ; Liu et al, 2018 ; Li et al, 2020 ).…”

Microbial community diversity and function analysis of Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux in rhizosphere soil of farmlands in Southwest China

“…Interestingly, recent studies have reported that Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria maintained higher metabolic activity in soil polluted by heavy metals ( Margesin et al, 2011 ; He et al, 2017 ). For instance, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria was increased in the highly contaminated soil ( Hu et al, 2021 ) and positively correlated with heavy metals Cu, Pb, and Cd ( Zhao et al, 2020 ), whereas Actinobacteria abundance followed the opposite trend. These results demonstrated that the Proteobacteria were the metal-tolerant microorganisms in environments with high heavy metal contamination ( Jiang et al, 2019 ; Li Y. C. et al, 2020 ).…”

Meta‐omic evaluation of bacterial microbial community structure and activity for the environmental assessment of soils: overcoming protein extraction pitfalls

“…Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum given its relevant role in soils which is to provide basic functions in the biogeochemical cycles (Delgado‐Baquerizo et al ., 2018; Feng et al ., 2018). In general, Proteobacteria have shown a significant tolerance to heavy metals (Zhao et al ., 2019; Zhao et al ., 2020). The disappearance of many phyla and families with respect to LDP explains the great loss of diversity in AJO and MAT, two areas that have been historically exposed to contamination and that surround DNP as discussed above.…”

“…A recent study has shown that pesticides decrease the bacterial diversity and abundance in irrigated paddies (Onwona-Kwakye et al, 2020). Bioactivity, richness and microbial diversity also decrease when the concentration of heavy metals increase (Yin et al, 2015;Xie et al, 2016;Feng et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2018;Luo et al, 2018;Fatimawali et al, 2020;Thomas IV et al, 2020;Zhao et al, 2020). Significantly, it has been shown that heavy metals contribute to the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in contaminated soils due to the abundance and cooccurrence of antibiotic and metal resistant genes (Chen et al, 2019;Thomas et al, 2020).…”