Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States.
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jan 20;805:150189. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150189. Epub 2021 Sep 8.
With advances in eDNA metabarcoding, environmental microbiomes are increasingly used as cost-effective tools for monitoring ecosystem health. Stream ecosystems in Central Appalachia, heavily impacted by alkaline drainage from mountaintop coal mining, present ideal opportunities for biomonitoring using stream microbiomes, but the structural and functional responses of microbial communities in different environmental compartments are not well understood. We investigated sediment microbiomes in mining impacted streams to determine how community composition and function respond to mining and to look for potential microbial bioindicators. Using 16s rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we found that mining leads to shifts in microbial community structure, with the phylum Planctomycetes enriched by 1-6% at mined sites. We observed ~51% increase in species richness in bulk sediments. In contrast, of the 31 predicted metabolic pathways that changed significantly with mining, 23 responded negatively. Mining explained 15-18% of the variance in community structure and S, Se, %C and %N were the main drivers of community and functional pathway composition. We identified 12 microbial indicators prevalent in the ecosystem and sensitive to mining. Overall, alkaline mountaintop mining drainage causes a restructuration of the sediment microbiome, and our study identified promising microbial indicators for the long-term monitoring of these impacted streams.
随着环境 DNA 宏条形码技术的进步，环境微生物组越来越多地被用作监测生态系统健康的经济有效的工具。阿巴拉契亚中部的溪流生态系统受到山顶煤矿开采产生的碱性排水的严重影响，非常适合使用溪流微生物组进行生物监测，但不同环境隔室中微生物群落的结构和功能响应还不太清楚。我们研究了受采矿影响的溪流中的沉积物微生物组，以确定群落组成和功能如何对采矿做出响应，并寻找潜在的微生物生物标志物。我们使用 16s rRNA 基因扩增子测序发现，采矿导致微生物群落结构发生变化，厚壁菌门的丰度在矿区增加了 1-6%。我们观察到在大块沉积物中物种丰富度增加了约 51%。相比之下，有 31 条预测的代谢途径与采矿显著相关，其中 23 条呈负响应。采矿解释了群落结构 15-18%的变异性，S、Se、%C 和 %N 是群落和功能途径组成的主要驱动因素。我们确定了 12 种在生态系统中普遍存在且对采矿敏感的微生物指标。总体而言，山顶煤矿开采产生的碱性排水导致了沉积物微生物组的结构重组，我们的研究为这些受影响溪流的长期监测确定了有前途的微生物生物标志物。
