China\u2019s most typical nonferrous organic-metal facilities own specific microbial communities

Jian-Li Liu,Lena Alakangas,Xiao-Zhe Zhu,Karen A Hudson-Edwards,Xing-Yu Liu,Fei Wang,Yi-Yue Zhang,Tatjana Solevic-Knudsen,Robert Duran,Geoffrey Sunahara,Gyozo Jordan,Jun Yao,Wen Ni,Zi-Fu Li

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30519-1

Abstract

The diversity and function of microorganisms have yet to be explored at non-ferrous metal mining facilities (NMMFs), which are the world’s largest and potentially most toxic sources of co-existing metal(loid)s and flotation reagents (FRs). The diversity and inferred functions of different bacterial communities inhabiting two types of sites (active and abandoned) in Guangxi province (China) were investigated for the first time. Here we show that the structure and diversity of bacteria correlated with the types of mine sites, metal(loid)s, and FRs concentrations; and best correlated with the combination of pH, Cu, Pb, and Mn. Combined microbial coenobium may play a pivotal role in NMMFs microbial life. Arenimonas, specific in active mine sites and an acidophilic bacterium, carries functions able to cope with the extreme conditions, whereas Latescibacteria specific in abandoned sites can degrade organics. Such a bacterial consortium provides new insights to develop cost-effective remediation strategies of co-contaminated sites that currently remain intractable for bioremediation.

Highlights

The diversity and function of microorganisms have yet to be explored at non-ferrous metal mining facilities (NMMFs), which are the world’s largest and potentially most toxic sources of co-existing metal(loid)s and flotation reagents (FRs)
The frequencies of NMMFs pollution incidents threaten the safety of water, soil, and ecologically sensitive environments, which can lead to devastating human health and socio-economic consequences[6,7]
FRs at NMMFs can be degraded with time[9], complexation reactions between metal(loid)s and intermediate metabolites of FRs could result in the migration and transformation of metal(loid)s that are more toxic and mobile than the parent compounds[10,11]

Summary

Introduction

The diversity and function of microorganisms have yet to be explored at non-ferrous metal mining facilities (NMMFs), which are the world’s largest and potentially most toxic sources of co-existing metal(loid)s and flotation reagents (FRs). The diversity and inferred functions of different bacterial communities inhabiting two types of sites (active and abandoned) in Guangxi province (China) were investigated for the first time. Arenimonas, specific in active mine sites and an acidophilic bacterium, carries functions able to cope with the extreme conditions, whereas Latescibacteria specific in abandoned sites can degrade organics Such a bacterial consortium provides new insights to develop cost-effective remediation strategies of co-contaminated sites that currently remain intractable for bioremediation. The possibility to compare microbial communities inhabiting active and abandoned nonferrous tailings sites will allow determination of the geochemical factors driving the organization of microbial assemblages. The objectives of the present study were to: (1) determine the bacterial community composition by 16S rRNA gene MiSeq Illumina sequencing at active and abandoned Guangxi’s mine tailings with diverse geochemical characteristics, (2) compare the bacterial communities to define the specific bacterial populations and their functional profiles, and (3) identify the driving factors governing bacterial community organization by correlating bacterial diversity data with geochemical characteristics

Objectives

Methods

Results