Metal impacts on microbial biomass in the anoxic sediments of a contaminated lake

Gough, Heidi L.; Dahl, Amy L.; Nolan, Melissa A.; Gaillard, Jean François; Stahl, David A.

doi:10.1029/2007jg000566

Cited by 26 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Indeed, heavy metal contaminants have been shown to inhibit the nitrogen cycle (Kandeler et al 1996). Interestingly, dsr genes known to be involved in sulfate reduction were found to be elevated in a freshwater lake contaminated with heavy metals (Kang et al 2013), after earlier discovery of increased sulfate reduction rates at that same location (Gough et al 2008). This suggests that heavy metal presence could increase or decrease rates of elemental cycling, likely dependent on microbial community composition and site-specific characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

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High concentrations of bioavailable heavy metals impact freshwater sediment microbial communities

Horton

Rui

et al. 2015

Ann Microbiol

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Heavy metal concentrations within freshwater systems can increase as a result of anthropogenic inputs, which in turn can influence microbial community composition and community function. In this study, lake sediments collected from two historically heavy metal impacted geographical regions [Poyang Lake, People's Republic of China (PRC), and sites adjacent to the Muskegon Watershed, MI (USA)] were analyzed for total and available heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn), as well as microbial community structure using highthroughput sequencing technology. In PRC tributaries leading into Poyang Lake, Zn was found to be the most available metal species. In USA sites, available Cd was higher in Mona Lake sites than alternate USA sites. In both regions, results indicate a weak influence of metals on microbial alpha and beta diversity, but strong positive and negative correlations of available heavy metals with specific taxonomic groups of bacteria and archaea. Further, individual metal species impacted microbial groups and operational taxonomic units differently, suggesting that individual metal species are important in determining which microbial groups and species prevail under heavy metal stress, particularly in the case of bioavailable metals. In PRC, several taxonomic groups were correlated positively with Zn, including Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. Geobacter and Pedosphaerales were both correlated positively to Cr in the same sites, while other correlations with microbial groups were negative. In sites from the USA, Deltaproteobacteria were correlated positively with Cd, while Betaproteobacteria were negatively correlated, suggesting that Cd resistance may differ at the level of Class within Proteobacteria. This study highlights the importance of analyzing available metals when examining the impact of this disturbance on microbial community structure within aquatic sediments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Specifically, soil microbial communities can become drastically altered from anthropogenic disturbances to an ecosystem (e.g., heavy metals; Kandeler et al 1996;Sandaa et al 1999;Muller et al 2002;Gough et al 2008;Griffiths and Philippot 2013). Aquatic Caiying Ni and Dean Horton contributed equally to this work and are the first authors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High concentrations of bioavailable heavy metals impact freshwater sediment microbial communities

Horton

Rui

et al. 2015

Ann Microbiol

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“…As a result of naturally high organic loading, sediments within this lake become anoxic within the first 1-2 mm below the sedimentwater interface (data not shown). Thus, this field site allows study of the influence of metal contamination on anaerobic microbial sediment communities following long-term exposure (more than 80 years) over a naturally established contamination concentration gradient (Webb et al, 2000;Gough et al, 2008aGough et al, , 2008b.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microbial communities in metal-contaminated sediments HL Gough and DA Stahl hand-held piston core sampler (15 cores total) as part of a comprehensive study on metal speciation and microbial biomass within Lake DePue (Gough et al, 2008a). A summary of the ranges of the observed metal concentrations and environmental variables is shown in Table 1, and more detailed results can be found in Gough et al (2008a), including descriptions of the inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and flame atomic absorption spectrometry methods used to quantify the metals.…”

Section: Description Of Sampling Sites and Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microbial community structures in anoxic freshwater lake sediment along a metal contamination gradient

Gough

Stahl

2010

The ISME Journal

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Contamination, such as by heavy metals, has frequently been implicated in altering microbial community structure. However, this association has not been extensively studied for anaerobic communities, or in freshwater lake sediments. We investigated microbial community structure in the metal-contaminated anoxic sediments of a eutrophic lake that were impacted over the course of 80 years by nearby zinc-smelting activities. Microbial community structure was inferred for bacterial, archaeal and eukaryotic populations by evaluating terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) patterns in near-surface sediments collected in triplicate from five areas of the lake that had differing levels of metal contamination. The majority of the fragments in the bacterial and eukaryotic profiles showed no evidence of variation in association with metal contamination levels, and diversity revealed by these profiles remained consistent even as metal concentrations varied from 3000 to 27 000 mg kg À1 total Zn, 0.125 to 11.2 lM pore water Zn and 0.023 to 5.40 lM pore water As. Although most archaeal fragments also showed no evidence of variation, the prevalence of a fragment associated with mesophilic Crenarchaeota showed significant positive correlation with total Zn concentrations. This Crenarchaeota fragment dominated the archaeal TRFLP profiles, representing between 35% and 79% of the total measured peak areas. Lake DePue 16S rRNA gene sequences corresponding to this TRFLP fragment clustered with anaerobic and soil mesophilic Crenarchaeota sequences. Although Crenarchaeota have been associated with metal-contaminated groundwater and soils, this is a first report (to our knowledge) documenting potential increased prevalence of Crenarchaeota associated with elevated levels of metal contamination.

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Microbial community structure and functioning along metal pollution gradients

Azarbad

Niklińska

Gestel³

et al. 2013

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

105

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Toxic effects of heavy metals on soil microorganisms have been confirmed in a number of laboratory studies. However, most real-field studies do not allow for strong general conclusions due to a range of problems, such as pseudoreplication and confounding factors, which are almost impossible to control for with the most commonly used polluted versus unpolluted or random sampling designs. Effects of metal contamination on soil microbial community traits were measured along 2 pollution gradients in southern Poland. Employing an experimental regression design, using 2 separate gradients, the authors aimed to control for effects of soil properties and beta-diversity of microbial communities. General microbial activity was measured as soil basal respiration rate and substrate-induced respiration, while microbial functional and structural diversity were analyzed with community-level physiological profiles and phospholipid fatty acid patterns, respectively. Metal concentrations were normalized to their toxicity and integrated in a toxicity index (TI). Microbial activity (basal and substrate-induced respiration) decreased in both gradients with increasing TI. Community-level physiological profiles for fungi correlated positively with TI, but no impact of TI on the community-level physiological profiles of bacteria was observed. The phospholipid fatty acids a:15 and i:17 were positively correlated with TI, whereas 16:1ω9 and 18:2ω9 were negatively correlated with TI. The use of 2 gradients (Olkusz and Miasteczko Śląskie) allowed the authors to reveal a clear effect of pollution on general microbial structure and activities, even though they were not able to control completely for all confounding factors. Soil pH, organic matter content, and nutrient level appeared to be at least as important as TI in determining microbial community structure and activities.

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Metal impacts on microbial biomass in the anoxic sediments of a contaminated lake

Cited by 26 publications

References 51 publications

High concentrations of bioavailable heavy metals impact freshwater sediment microbial communities

High concentrations of bioavailable heavy metals impact freshwater sediment microbial communities

Microbial community structures in anoxic freshwater lake sediment along a metal contamination gradient

Microbial community structure and functioning along metal pollution gradients

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