Open AccessBacterial community and arsenic functional genes diversity in arsenic contaminated soils from different geographic locations
Author(s) -
Yunfu Gu,
Joy D. Van Nostrand,
Liyou Wu,
Zhili He,
Yujia Qin,
FangJie Zhao,
Jizhong Zhou
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0176696
Subject(s) - arsenic , biology , 16s ribosomal rna , soil microbiology , community structure , soil water , gene , transformation (genetics) , ecology , genetics , chemistry , organic chemistry
To understand how soil microbial communities and arsenic (As) functional genes respond to soil arsenic (As) contamination, five soils contaminated with As at different levels were collected from diverse geographic locations, incubated for 54 days under flooded conditions, and examined by both MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons and functional gene microarray (GeoChip 4.0). The results showed that both bacterial community structure and As functional gene structure differed among geographical locations. The diversity of As functional genes correlated positively with the diversity of 16S rRNA genes (P< 0.05). Higher diversities of As functional genes and 16S rRNA genes were observed in the soils with higher available As. Soil pH, phosphate-extractable As, and amorphous Fe content were the most important factors in shaping the bacterial community structure and As transformation functional genes. Geographic location was also important in controlling both the bacterial community and As transformation functional potential. These findings provide insights into the variation of As transformation functional genes in soils contaminated with different levels of As at different geographic locations, and the impact of environmental As contamination on the soil bacterial community.