School of Water Resource and Environment Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), 100083, China.
School of Water Resource and Environment Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), 100083, China.
Environ Pollut. 2019 Dec;255(Pt 2):113165. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113165. Epub 2019 Sep 7.
Nonferrous mine tailings have caused serious problems of co-contamination with metal(loid)s. It is still a global challenge to cost-effectively manage and mitigate the effect of the mining wastes. We conducted an in-situ bio-treatment of non-ferrous metal(loid) tailings using a microbial consortium of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). During the bio-treatment, the transformation of metal(loid)s (such as Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Sb, and Zn) into oxidizable and residual fractions in the subsurface tended to be higher than that observed in the surface. As well the mineral compositions changed becoming more complex, indicating that the sulfur reducing process of bio-treatment shaped the bio-transformation of metal(loid)s. The added SRB genera, especially Desulfotomaculum genus, colonized the tailings suggesting the coalescence of SRB consortia with indigenous communities of tailings. Such observation provides new insights for understanding the functional microbial community coalescence applied to bio-treatment. PICRUSt analysis revealed presence of genes involved in sulfate reduction, both assimilatory and dissimilatory. The potential for the utilization of both inorganic and organic sulfur compounds as S source, as well as the presence of sulfite oxidation genes indicated that SRB play an important role in the transformation of metal(loid)s. We advocate that the management of microorganisms involved in S-cycle is of paramount importance for the in situ bio-treatment of tailings, which provide new insights for the implementation of bio-treatments for mitigating the effect of tailings.
有色金属尾矿已造成金属（类）的严重共污染问题。经济有效地管理和减轻采矿废物的影响仍然是一个全球性的挑战。我们使用硫酸盐还原菌（SRB）的微生物联合体对有色金属（类）尾矿进行了原位生物处理。在生物处理过程中，金属（类）（如 Cu、Fe、Mn、Pb、Sb 和 Zn）在地下向可氧化和残余部分的转化趋势高于地表观察到的转化趋势。矿物成分也变得更加复杂，这表明生物处理的硫还原过程塑造了金属（类）的生物转化。添加的 SRB 属，特别是脱硫单胞菌属，在尾矿中定殖，表明 SRB 联合体与尾矿的土著群落融合。这种观察为理解应用于生物处理的功能微生物群落融合提供了新的见解。 PICRUSt 分析显示存在参与硫酸盐还原的基因，包括同化和异化。能够利用无机和有机硫化合物作为 S 源，以及亚硫酸盐氧化基因的存在，表明 SRB 在金属（类）的转化中发挥了重要作用。我们主张，参与 S 循环的微生物的管理对于尾矿的原位生物处理至关重要，这为实施生物处理以减轻尾矿的影响提供了新的见解。
