title: An integrated insight into the response of sedimentary microbial communities to heavy metal contamination.
abstract: Response of biological communities to environmental stresses is a critical issue in ecology, but how microbial communities shift across heavy metal gradients remain unclear. To explore the microbial response to heavy metal contamination (e.g., Cr, Mn, Zn), the composition, structure and functional potential of sedimentary microbial community were investigated by sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons and a functional gene microarray. Analysis of 16S rRNA sequences revealed that the composition and structure of sedimentary microbial communities changed significantly across a gradient of heavy metal contamination, and the relative abundances were higher for Firmicutes, Chloroflexi and Crenarchaeota, but lower for Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria in highly contaminated samples. Also, molecular ecological network analysis of sequencing data indicated that their possible interactions might be enhanced in highly contaminated communities. Correspondently, key functional genes involved in metal homeostasis (e.g., chrR, metC, merB), carbon metabolism, and organic remediation showed a higher abundance in highly contaminated samples, indicating that bacterial communities in contaminated areas may modulate their energy consumption and organic remediation ability. This study indicated that the sedimentary indigenous microbial community may shift the composition and structure as well as function priority and interaction network to increase their adaptability and/or resistance to environmental contamination.
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Huaqun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Jiaojiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Youhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources Collection and Preservation, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100081, China.|Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer, Beijing 100081, China.|Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Fenliang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Yunhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Genomics and Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Genomics and Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Genomics and Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman 73019, USA.
authors.forename: Zhili
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Genomics and Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman 73019, USA.|School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley 94710, USA.
authors.forename: Jizhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Yili
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.|Key laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Xueduan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology*; D054892:Metagenome; D056186:Metagenomics; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000737:chemistry*; D064307:Microbiota; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S