title: Microbial communities and functional genes associated with soil arsenic contamination and the rhizosphere of the arsenic-hyperaccumulating plant Pteris vittata L.
abstract: To understand how microbial communities and functional genes respond to arsenic contamination in the rhizosphere of Pteris vittata, five soil samples with different arsenic contamination levels were collected from the rhizosphere of P. vittata and nonrhizosphere areas and investigated by Biolog, geochemical, and functional gene microarray (GeoChip 3.0) analyses. Biolog analysis revealed that the uncontaminated soil harbored the greatest diversity of sole-carbon utilization abilities and that arsenic contamination decreased the metabolic diversity, while rhizosphere soils had higher metabolic diversities than did the nonrhizosphere soils. GeoChip 3.0 analysis showed low proportions of overlapping genes across the five soil samples (16.52% to 45.75%). The uncontaminated soil had a higher heterogeneity and more unique genes (48.09%) than did the arsenic-contaminated soils. Arsenic resistance, sulfur reduction, phosphorus utilization, and denitrification genes were remarkably distinct between P. vittata rhizosphere and nonrhizosphere soils, which provides evidence for a strong linkage among the level of arsenic contamination, the rhizosphere, and the functional gene distribution. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that arsenic is the main driver in reducing the soil functional gene diversity; however, organic matter and phosphorus also have significant effects on the soil microbial community structure. The results implied that rhizobacteria play an important role during soil arsenic uptake and hyperaccumulation processes of P. vittata.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Jinbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Liyou
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Shuxin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Joy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Van Nostrand
authors.forename: Zhili
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Jizhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Gejiao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D044822:Biodiversity; D058448:Biota; D057486:Carbon Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D058458:Nitrogen Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000378:metabolism; D032495:Pteris / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D058441:Rhizosphere; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013431:Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D013431:Sulfates; D010758:Phosphorus; D001151:Arsenic