Assessment of bacterial community composition in response to uranium levels in sediment samples of sacred Cauvery River.
Global industrialization is a major cause of effluent discharge from industries up to alarming concentrations. Especially, uranium concentrations in water bodies are of great concern, as its radioactivity significantly affects the persistent diversity of microbiota. Recently, continuous application of pesticides in the agricultural lands and accumulation of quartz that enter the Cauvery River has significantly increased the concentration of uranium (U) and other heavy metals. To perceive the impact of uranium on bacterial diversity in Cauvery River, sediment samples collected from polluted (UP) site with 32.4 Bq/K of U concentration and control (UNP) site were scrutinized for bacterial diversity through metagenomic analysis of the V3 region of 16S rDNA by Illumina sequencing. Taxonomic assignment revealed that the unpolluted sample was dominated by Bacteroidetes (27.7 %), and Firmicutes (25.9 %), while sediment sample from the highly polluted site revealed abundance of Proteobacteria (47.5 %) followed by Bacteroidetes (22.4 %) and Firmicutes (14.6 %). Among Proteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria was the most prevalent group followed by alpha, delta, epsilon, and beta in the uranium-polluted sample. Rare and abundant species analysis revealed that species like Idiomarina loihiensis was abundant in the pollutant sample; however, it was rare (<0.1 %) in the sample from pristine environment. Similarly, the species distribution in both the samples varied, with the bacteria potentially active in redox activity and biosorption potential dominating in the polluted sample. Outcomes of the present study demonstrated the impact of uranium and metal accumulation on the bacterial communities and further confirmed the promising candidature of specific bacterial species as bioindicators of contamination.
Department of Environmental Biotechnology, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, 620024, India. jsuriyamb08@gmail.com.
Jayaraman
J
Suriya
CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Porto Novo, Tamil Nadu, 608502, India.|Department of Marine Science, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, 364002, India.
Mootapally
M
Chandra Shekar
Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat, 360005, India.|Department of Life Sciences, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, 364002, India.
Neelam Mustakali
NM
Nathani
Department of Environmental Biotechnology, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, 620024, India.
Thangaiyan
T
Suganya
CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Porto Novo, Tamil Nadu, 608502, India.
Subramanian
S
Bharathiraja
Department of Environmental Biotechnology, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, 620024, India. profmkrish@gmail.com.
Muthukalingan
M
Krishnan
D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D058448:Biota; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D056186:Metagenomics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D045483:Rivers; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*
D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D014501:Uranium
Amplicon sequencing; Bacterial diversity; Illumina; River sediment; Uranium accumulation