Microbial community signature in Lake Coeur d’Alene: Association of environmental variables and toxic heavy metal phases

Abstract

The water and sediments of Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho (USA) have been impacted by decades of mining operations within the Coeur d'Alene mining district. Using a multivariate statistical approach, correlations were explored between the microbial community (via 16S rDNA microarray) in sediment cores and operationally defined heavy metal phases (via continuous sequential extractions). Candidate phyla NC10, OP8 and LD1PA were only detected in metal contaminated cores and diversity doubled among Natronoanaerobium in metal contaminated cores compared to the uncontaminated control site. This may suggest some increased fitness of these phyla in contaminated sediments. In contrast, diversity within the phyla Aquificae, Coprothermobacteria, and Synergistes was at least double in the uncontaminated control site. In linear models composed of two geochemical variables from the presumed sulfate reducing lineages detected in this study, orders Desulfobacterales, Desulfuromonadales, Desulfotomaculum, and Syntrophobacterales were highly correlated with Pb (positive influence) and Zn (negative influence) in the operationally defined residual fraction, and most taxa within orders from Desulfovibrionales. Bdellovibrionales highly correlated with Pb in the exchangeable/carbonate (negative influence) and oxyhydroxide (positive influence) phases. Diversity within families from metal reducing bacterial lineages Shewanellaceae, Geobacteraceae, and Rhodocyclaceae showed high correlation with Pb in the exchangeable/carbonate (negative influence) and oxyhydroxide (positive influence) phases. To our knowledge, this is the first time these techniques have been used in combination to describe a contaminated system. Resulting correlations suggest the diversity of the microbial community was influenced primarily by partitioning of heavy metals into exchangeable Pb over other Pb phases and, to a lesser extent, residual Pb to residual Zn phase partitioning.

Heavy Metals in Sapropel of Lakes in Suburban Territories of Vilnius (Lithuania): Reflections of Paleoenvironmental Conditions and Anthropogenic Influence

“…Most of the elements tend to form mixed complexes in organic parts of sediments (organic matter, Zn, Fe, Zr, Ti, Rb, K with r = 0.69 to 0.98, p < 0.05), whereas elemental associations of mineral matter are associated with As, Mn, Sr, Ca and correlation values vary from r = 0.47 to 0.89, p < 0.05. Similar distribution and relation patterns of lake sediment geochemistry have been identified by other authors [47,48].…”

Assembly processes of bacterial and fungal communities in metal(loid)s smelter soil

“…Consistently, two OTUs associated with Rhodocyclaceae showed positive relationships with the bioavailable Fe and Cr. It also has been reported that Pb exhibited a strong correlation with the Fe(III)-reducing bacterial lineages Rhodocyclaceae (Moberly et al, 2016;Jia et al, 2022). Apart from these bacteria, the fungi, e.g., Meruliaceae and Pleosporaceae, showed similar trends.…”

Seasonal and Basinal Influences on the Formation and Transport of Dissolved Trace Metal Forms in a Mining-Impacted Riverine Environment

“…In the lower basin, sediment analyses indicate concentrations of up to 250 ppm Cd and 35,000 ppm Zn in the lateral system sediments and the substantial presence of Zn (up to 70 mgL −1 ) in sediment porewater [26]. Pb and Zn have been observed to cycle between solid and aqueous phases as (oxyhydr)oxides, carbonates, and sulfides depending on biogeochemical conditions [13,[35][36][37][38][39][40]. The Coeur d'Alene River Basin can be divided at the confluence of the river's South Fork (774 km 2 ) and North Fork (2318 km 2 ), which merge 6 km upstream of the community of Cataldo, Idaho (Figure 1).…”