Li Min, Liu Jun, Cao Dan, Chen Xueyi, Shi Jiaxin, Hu Wenzhe, Xiao Chunqiao, Fang Yun
Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, School of Environmental Ecology and Biological Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, China.
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Soil Health and Green Remediation, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Jul 18;16:1566627. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1566627. eCollection 2025.
Microbial community play a fundamental role in primary succession of tailings ecosystems. However, the influence of heavy metal pollution on microbial interactions and assembly dynamics during this process remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated bacterial and fungal communities in tailing soil and biological soil crusts (BSCs) undergoing primary succession under varying heavy metal pollution. By integrating microbial community profiling with measurements of soil nutrients and heavy metal concentrations, we aimed to elucidate how pollution levels shape microbial composition, co-occurrence networks, and assembly processes. Our results revealed clear differences in soil physicochemical properties, microbial diversity, community structure, and ecological interactions between low and high pollution conditions. Under high contamination, dominated the bacterial communities, while and were representative among fungi. Microbial diversity decreased with increasing pollution, accompanied by simplified co-occurrence networks and increased modularity. In highly polluted environments, both bacterial and fungal communities exhibited stronger correlations with environmental factors. Interestingly, bacterial communities were more strongly associated with soil nutrient parameters, whereas fungal communities responded more closely to heavy metal concentrations. Community assembly analysis further showed a shift toward deterministic processes in bacterial communities under high pollution, while fungal assembly remained largely stochastic. These findings highlight the differential responses of bacterial and fungal communities to heavy metal stress and underscore the critical role of pollution in shaping microbial succession in tailing ecosystems. This study provides important insights into microbial ecology under environmental stress and may inform strategies for the bioremediation and management of contaminated mine lands.
微生物群落尾矿生态系统的原生演替中发挥着重要作用。然而，在此过程中重金属污染对微生物相互作用和组装动力学的影响仍知之甚少。在本研究中，我们调查了在不同重金属污染下经历原生演替的尾矿土壤和生物土壤结皮（BSCs）中的细菌和真菌群落。通过将微生物群落分析与土壤养分和重金属浓度的测量相结合，我们旨在阐明污染水平如何塑造微生物组成、共现网络和组装过程。我们的结果揭示了低污染和高污染条件下土壤理化性质、微生物多样性、群落结构和生态相互作用的明显差异。在高污染条件下， 主导细菌群落，而 在真菌中具有代表性。微生物多样性随着污染程度的增加而降低，同时共现网络简化，模块性增加。在高污染环境中，细菌和真菌群落与环境因素的相关性都更强。有趣的是，细菌群落与土壤养分参数的相关性更强，而真菌群落对重金属浓度的响应更密切。群落组装分析进一步表明，在高污染条件下，细菌群落的组装过程向确定性过程转变，而真菌组装在很大程度上仍然是随机的。这些发现突出了细菌和真菌群落对重金属胁迫的不同响应，并强调了污染在尾矿生态系统微生物演替形成中的关键作用。本研究为环境胁迫下的微生物生态学提供了重要见解，并可能为污染矿山土地的生物修复和管理策略提供参考。
