title: Abundance and diversity of Archaea in heavy-metal-contaminated soils.
abstract: The impact of heavy-metal contamination on archaean communities was studied in soils amended with sewage sludge contaminated with heavy metals to varying extents. Fluorescent in situ hybridization showed a decrease in the percentage of Archaea from 1.3% +/- 0.3% of 4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole-stained cells in untreated soil to below the detection limit in soils amended with heavy metals. A comparison of the archaean communities of the different plots by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed differences in the structure of the archaean communities in soils with increasing heavy-metal contamination. Analysis of cloned 16S ribosomal DNA showed close similarities to a unique and globally distributed lineage of the kingdom Crenarchaeota that is phylogenetically distinct from currently characterized crenarchaeotal species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Bergen, N-5020 Bergen, Norway. Ruth.Sandaa@im.uib.no
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Sandaa
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Enger
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Torsvik
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000633:toxicity*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012989:Soil Pollutants