School of Energy and Machinery Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Nanchang, China.
College of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Hebei University, Baoding, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Feb 10;755(Pt 1):142521. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142521. Epub 2020 Sep 24.
In-situ leaching technology is now widely used to exploit ion adsorption rare earth ore, which has caused serious environmental problems and deterioration of mining soil ecosystems. However, our knowledge about the influences of mining operation on the microbiota in these ecosystems is currently very limited. In this study, diversity and composition of prokaryote and ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in rare earth mining soil after in-situ leaching practice were examined using quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) and Illumina high-throughput sequencing. Results showed that in-situ leaching mining considerably impacted microbial communities of the mining soils. The abundances of bacterial, archaeal, and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) were significantly and negatively correlated with ionic rare earth elements (REEs), while their diversities were relatively stable. Total rare earth elements (TREEs) and ammonium were the strongest predictors of the bacterial community structure, and organic matter was the key factor predicting the variation in the archaeal community. Chloroflexi, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the most abundant bacterial phyla, and archaeal communities were dominated by Thaumarchaeota. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that unclassified Thaumarchaeota and Crenarchaeota were the predominant AOA groups. The non-detection of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and the abundance of AOA indicated that archaea rather than bacteria were predominantly responsible for ammonia oxidation in the mining soil. Network analysis demonstrated that positive interactions among microorganisms could increase their adaptability or resistance to this harsh environment. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the prokaryotic communities and functional groups in rare earth mining soil after mining operation, as well as insight into the potential interactive mechanisms among soil microbes.
原地浸矿技术目前广泛应用于离子吸附型稀土矿的开采，这导致了严重的环境问题和采矿土壤生态系统的恶化。然而，我们目前对采矿作业对这些生态系统中微生物的影响知之甚少。在这项研究中，使用定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）和 Illumina 高通量测序技术，研究了原地浸矿实践后稀土矿开采土壤中细菌和氨氧化微生物的多样性和组成。结果表明，原地浸矿采矿对采矿土壤的微生物群落产生了很大的影响。细菌、古菌和氨氧化古菌（AOA）的丰度与离子型稀土元素（REEs）呈显著负相关，而它们的多样性相对稳定。总稀土元素（TREEs）和铵是细菌群落结构的最强预测因子，而有机质是预测古菌群落变化的关键因素。Chloroflexi、Proteobacteria、Acidobacteria 和 Actinobacteria 是最丰富的细菌门，而古菌群落主要由 Thaumarchaeota 组成。系统发育分析表明，未分类的 Thaumarchaeota 和 Crenarchaeota 是主要的 AOA 类群。未检测到氨氧化细菌（AOB）和 AOA 的丰度表明，在采矿土壤中，氨氧化主要由古菌而不是细菌负责。网络分析表明，微生物之间的正相互作用可以提高它们对这种恶劣环境的适应性或抵抗力。本研究全面分析了采矿作业后稀土矿开采土壤中的原核生物群落和功能群，并深入了解了土壤微生物之间潜在的相互作用机制。
