Open AccessBacterial communities associated with a mineral weathering profile at a sulphidic mine tailings dump in arid W estern A ustralia
Author(s) -
Wakelin Steven A.,
Anand Ravi R.,
Reith Frank,
Gregg Adrienne L.,
Noble Ryan R.P.,
Goldfarb Kate C.,
Andersen Gary L.,
DeSantis Todd Z.,
Piceno Yvette M.,
Brodie Eoin L.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2011.01215.x
Subject(s) - tailings , acidobacteria , biogeochemical cycle , biology , weathering , firmicutes , actinobacteria , ecology , microbial population biology , proteobacteria , biogeochemistry , bacteria , paleontology , materials science , 16s ribosomal rna , metallurgy , genetics
We investigated bacterial community assemblages and functions down a hill slope contaminated by tailings from a volcanogenic massive sulphide mine in arid Western Australia. Weathering of waste rock, high in S and F e, had resulted in a varying elemental dispersal down a face of the tailings hill. Bacterial community assemblage, characterised by PCR – DGGE fingerprinting, was significantly associated with electrical conductivity ( E . C .) (ρ = 0.664; P < 0.01). Analysis of mobile salts showed that E . C . values were driven by ionic S , Z n, C l and A l. The bacterial community assemblage was directly characterised across an E . C . gradient using an oligonucleotide microarray ( P hylo C hip). The dominant taxa at the site were P roteobacteria , A ctinobacteria and F irmicutes ; however, 37 phyla were detected. The most responsive taxa to variation in E . C . was A cidobacteria (negative correlation). Patterns of heterotrophic processes ( B io L og analysis) were also best explained by variation in E . C . (ρ = 0.53; P < 0.01), showing a link between primary mineral weathering by lithotrophic bacteria and abiotic processes, and secondary biogeochemical processes by heterotrophic taxa. These data significantly broaden our knowledge of the bacteria present in metallomorphic ecosystems, establish that mobile phase elements are key drivers of community structure, and that primary biogeochemical cycling is directly influencing other geochemical interactions in the samples.