title: Use of pyrosequencing to explore the benthic bacterial community structure in a river impacted by wastewater treatment plant discharges.
abstract: In this study, we determined the diversity and composition of benthic bacterial communities collected in river sediments upstream and downstream from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes revealed notable differences between the communities from upstream and downstream sites. In particular, a higher relative abundance of Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Deltaproteobacteria and Firmicutes and a lower proportion of Gammaproteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia sequences were detected at the downstream site compared to the upstream site. These findings represent a first approximation of the impact of WWTP discharges on environmental microbial communities.
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: Elisabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain. Electronic address: jlbalcazar@icra.cat.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Balcázar
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D058448:Biota; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D007220:Industrial Waste; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D045483:Rivers / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D007220:Industrial Waste; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: Aquatic ecosystem; Microbial diversity; Sediment; Wastewater treatment plant