Geogenic Factors as Drivers of Microbial Community Diversity in Soils Overlying Polymetallic Deposits.
This study shows that the geogenic factors landform, lithology, and underlying mineral deposits (expressed by elevated metal concentrations in overlying soils) are key drivers of microbial community diversity in naturally metal-rich Australian soils with different land uses, i.e., agriculture versus natural bushland. One hundred sixty-eight soil samples were obtained from two metal-rich provinces in Australia, i.e., the Fifield Au-Pt field (New South Wales) and the Hillside Cu-Au-U rare-earth-element (REE) deposit (South Australia). Soils were analyzed using three-domain multiplex terminal-restriction-fragment-length-polymorphism (M-TRFLP) and PhyloChip microarrays. Geogenic factors were determined using field-mapping techniques and analyses of >50 geochemical parameters. At Fifield, microbial communities differed significantly with geogenic factors and equally with land use (P < 0.05). At Hillside, communities in surface soils (0.03- to 0.2-m depth) differed significantly with landform and land use (P < 0.05). Communities in deeper soils (>0.2 m) differed significantly with lithology and mineral deposit (P < 0.05). Across both sites, elevated metal contents in soils overlying mineral deposits were selective for a range of bacterial taxa, most importantly Acidobacteria, Bacilli, Betaproteobacteria, and Epsilonproteobacteria. In conclusion, long-term geogenic factors can be just as important as land use in determining soil microbial community diversity.
The University of Adelaide, School of Biological Sciences, The Sprigg Geobiology Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia CSIRO Land and Water, Environmental Contaminant Mitigation and Technologies, PMB2, Glen Osmond, South Australia, Australia Frank.Reith@csiro.au.
Frank
F
Reith
University of Queensland, Earth Sciences, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Carla M
CM
Zammit
The University of Adelaide, School of Biological Sciences, The Sprigg Geobiology Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Rebecca
R
Pohrib
CSIRO Land and Water, Environmental Contaminant Mitigation and Technologies, PMB2, Glen Osmond, South Australia, Australia.
Adrienne L
AL
Gregg
AgResearch Ltd., Lincoln Science Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Steven A
SA
Wakelin
D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009517:New South Wales; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013021:South Australia
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008670:Metals; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012987:Soil