title: Bacteria diversity and arsenic mobilization in rock biofilm from an ancient gold and arsenic mine.
abstract: In this paper we characterize the biofilm community from an ancient Złoty Stok gold and arsenic mine. Bacterial diversity was examined using a culture-independent technique based on 16S rRNA gene amplification, cloning and sequencing. We show that unexpectedly the microbial diversity of this community was extremely high (more than 190 OTUs detected), with the most numerous members from Rhizobiales (α-Proteobacteria). Although the level of rock biofilm diversity was similar to the microbial mat community we have previously characterized in the same adit, its taxonomic composition was completely different. Detailed analysis of functional arrA and aioA genes, chemical properties of siderophores found in pore water as well as the biofilm chemical composition suggest that the biofilm community contributes to arsenic pollution of surrounding water in a biogeochemical cycle similar to the one observed in bacterial mats. To interpret our results concerning the biological arsenic cycle, we applied the theory of ecological pyramids of Charles Elton.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tomczyk-Żak
authors.forename: Szymon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaczanowski
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Drewniak
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Dmoch
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sklodowska
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Zielenkiewicz
mesh_terms: D020561:Alphaproteobacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001151:Arsenic / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D044822:Biodiversity; D018441:Biofilms; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019295:Computational Biology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D006046:Gold; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008906:Mining; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011044:Poland; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017262:Siderophores / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D017262:Siderophores; D006046:Gold; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Arsenic mobilization; Biofilm; Gold and arsenic mine; diversity