title: Microbial Community of High Arsenic Groundwater in Agricultural Irrigation Area of Hetao Plain, Inner Mongolia.
abstract: Microbial communities can play important role in arsenic release in groundwater aquifers. To investigate the microbial communities in high arsenic groundwater aquifers in agricultural irrigation area, 17 groundwater samples with different arsenic concentrations were collected along the agricultural drainage channels of Hangjinhouqi County, Inner Mongolia and examined by illumina MiSeq sequencing approach targeting the V4 region of the 16S rRNA genes. Both principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering results indicated that these samples were divided into two groups (high and low arsenic groups) according to the variation of geochemical characteristics. Arsenic concentrations showed strongly positive correlations with [Formula: see text] and total organic carbon (TOC). Sequencing results revealed that a total of 329-2823 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were observed at the 97% OTU level. Microbial richness and diversity of high arsenic groundwater samples along the drainage channels were lower than those of low arsenic groundwater samples but higher than those of high arsenic groundwaters from strongly reducing areas. The microbial community structure in groundwater along the drainage channels was different from those in strongly reducing arsenic-rich aquifers of Hetao Plain and other high arsenic groundwater aquifers including Bangladesh, West Bengal, and Vietnam.AcinetobacterandPseudomonasdominated with high percentages in both high and low arsenic groundwaters.Alishewanella, Psychrobacter, Methylotenera, andCrenothrixshowed relatively high abundances in high arsenic groundwater, whileRheinheimeraand the unidentified OP3 were predominant populations in low arsenic groundwater. Archaeal populations displayed a low occurrence and mainly dominated by methanogens such asMethanocorpusculumandMethanospirillum. Microbial community compositions were different between high and low arsenic groundwater samples based on the results of principal coordinate analysis and co-inertia analysis. Other geochemical variables including TOC, [Formula: see text], oxidation-reduction potential, and Fe might also affect the microbial composition.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of GeosciencesWuhan, China; School of Environmental Studies, China University of GeosciencesWuhan, China.
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of HelsinkiLahti, Finland; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, BerkeleyCA, USA.
authors.forename: Aki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sinkkonen
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley CA, USA.
authors.forename: Shi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Dazhun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of GeosciencesWuhan, China; Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, OxfordOH, USA.
authors.forename: Hailiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of GeosciencesWuhan, China; School of Environmental Studies, China University of GeosciencesWuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yanxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Hetao Plain; arsenic; groundwater; illumina MiSeq; irrigation; microbial community