title: Diversity of the Sediment Microbial Community in the Aha Watershed (Southwest China) in Response to Acid Mine Drainage Pollution Gradients.
abstract: Located in southwest China, the Aha watershed is continually contaminated by acid mine drainage (AMD) produced from upstream abandoned coal mines. The watershed is fed by creeks with elevated concentrations of aqueous Fe (total Fe > 1 g/liter) and SO4 (2-) (>6 g/liter). AMD contamination gradually decreases throughout downstream rivers and reservoirs, creating an AMD pollution gradient which has led to a suite of biogeochemical processes along the watershed. In this study, sediment samples were collected along the AMD pollution sites for geochemical and microbial community analyses. High-throughput sequencing found various bacteria associated with microbial Fe and S cycling within the watershed and AMD-impacted creek. A large proportion of Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria were detected in this watershed. The dominant Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria were identified as microorganisms belonging to the genera Metallibacterium, Aciditerrimonas, Halomonas, Shewanella, Ferrovum, Alicyclobacillus, and Syntrophobacter. Among them, Halomonas, Aciditerrimonas, Metallibacterium, and Shewanella have previously only rarely been detected in AMD-contaminated environments. In addition, the microbial community structures changed along the watershed with different magnitudes of AMD pollution. Moreover, the canonical correspondence analysis suggested that temperature, pH, total Fe, sulfate, and redox potentials (Eh) were significant factors that structured the microbial community compositions along the Aha watershed.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China xiaotangfu@vip.gyig.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Tangfu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Yiran
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China.
authors.forename: Zengping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, China.
authors.forename: Enzong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Sanya Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China.
authors.forename: Jiwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D058448:Biota / Q000187:drug effects*; D002681:China; D004322:Drainage; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007220:Industrial Waste; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013455:Sulfur / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014873:Water Pollutants
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D007220:Industrial Waste; D014873:Water Pollutants; D014867:Water; D013455:Sulfur; D007501:Iron