title: Microbial diversity and community structure in an antimony-rich tailings dump.
abstract: To assess the impact of antimony (Sb) on microbial community structure, 12 samples were taken from an Sb tailings pile in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. All 12 samples exhibited elevated Sb concentrations, but the mobile and bioaccessible fractions were small in comparison to total Sb concentrations. Besides the geochemical analyses, microbial communities inhabiting the tailing samples were characterized to investigate the interplay between the microorganisms and environmental factors in mine tailings. In all samples, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the most dominant phyla. At the genus level, Thiobacillus, Limnobacter, Nocardioides, Lysobacter, Phormidium, and Kaistobacter demonstrated relatively high abundances. The two most abundant genera, Thiobacillus and Limnobacter, are characterized as sulfur-oxidizing bacteria and thiosulfate-oxidizing bacteria, respectively, while the genus Lysobacter contains arsenic (As)-resistant bacteria. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicates that TOC and the sulfate to sulfide ratio strongly shaped the microbial communities, suggesting the influence of the environmental factors in the indigenous microbial communities.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 500081, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Enzong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA.
authors.forename: Valdis
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krumins
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Yiran
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 500081, China. xiaotangfu@vip.gyig.ac.cn.|Innovation Center and Key Laboratory of Waters Safety & Protection in the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou University, 99 Lincheng Road West, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, 550081, People's Republic of China. xiaotangfu@vip.gyig.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Tangfu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 500081, China.
authors.forename: Zengping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 500081, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qingxiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 500081, China. swm@envsci.rutgers.edu.|Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA. swm@envsci.rutgers.edu.|Guangdong Institute of Eco-environment and Soil Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China. swm@envsci.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000965:Antimony / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001151:Arsenic / Q000032:analysis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000187:drug effects*; D008906:Mining; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D000965:Antimony; D001151:Arsenic
keywords: Antimony; Canonical correspondence analysis; Illumina sequencing; Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria