Abstract
Poproč post-mining area in Slovakia is an old environmental burden which has been contaminated by toxic metals and semi-metals, predominantly arsenic and antimony, in connection with the extraction of antimony ores. Nowadays, revitalization work is undergoing in the closed mine with three adjacent sludge lagoons. The outcomes deal with anthropogenic manifestations of mining in-situ and their influences on microbes. Using the BIOLOG test system we identified representatives of indigenous microbes, whose adaptation to high levels of toxic metals and semi-metals are one of the main bioindicators of the state of the post-mining environment and a basic indicator of the evolution of effects on organisms of a higher ecological level. The analyses of microbial diversity in Poproč found the strain of Firmicutes to be the most abundant, with the highest diversity in the genus Bacillus. Based on the biochemical tests, the Bacillus genus was confirmed to be highly adaptable to the change in biogeochemical conditions in metal-contaminated substrates. The variable parameters of the identified representatives of the Bacillus genus correspond to its high diversity, which has been confirmed by a set of oxidative and assimilation tests. Keywords: mined-out site, sludge lagoon, microbial diversity, BIOLOG system, Bacillus DOI 10.35180/gse-2019-0019
Highlights
Microorganisms are a contact group of organisms, which are an important element for successful land reclamation because of their major role in nutrient cycling, plant establishment, biogeochemical transformations of present elements, and soils formation [1], [2], [3]
The strains Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were present in all studied substrates, the species of genus Bacillus accounted for the major part of cultivable bacteria in most of the samples (44.44 %)
From analyses of the As, Sb-highly contaminated area Poproč (Slovakia) with secondary wastes shown that the most typical phylum correspond to Firmicutes, whose biochemical properties have been verified by the BIOLOG system
Summary
Microorganisms are a contact group of organisms, which are an important element for successful land reclamation because of their major role in nutrient cycling, plant establishment, biogeochemical transformations of present elements, and soils formation [1], [2], [3] These are organisms that are highly adaptable to life under the conditions of heavily-burdened areas and extreme stress from the presence of toxic elements [4], [5], [6]. These organisms have an enormous biotechnological potential in the speciation of elements in post-mining substrates, thereby influencing the course of further revitalization of contaminated sites through the biotransformation processes of present toxic metals and semimetals [7], [8], [9], [10], [11]. This information makes it possible to find differences between the microbial diversity of indigenous and environmentally-stressed areas in terms of its succession
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