Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning
Contamination from anthropogenic activities has significantly impacted Earth’s biosphere. However, knowledge about how environmental contamination affects the biodiversity of groundwater microbiomes and ecosystem functioning remains very limited. Here, we used a comprehensive functional gene array t...
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American Society for Microbiology
2018-02-01
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doaj-1b6df852f7164e1cac177f97d637a9bc2021-07-02T02:57:24ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologymBio2150-75112018-02-0191e02435-1710.1128/mBio.02435-17Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem FunctioningZhili HePing ZhangLinwei WuAndrea M. RochaQichao TuZhou ShiBo WuYujia QinJianjun WangQingyun YanDaniel CurtisDaliang NingJoy D. Van NostrandLiyou WuYunfeng YangDwayne A. EliasDavid B. WatsonMichael W. W. AdamsMatthew W. FieldsEric J. AlmTerry C. HazenPaul D. AdamsAdam P. ArkinJizhong ZhouJennifer MartinyContamination from anthropogenic activities has significantly impacted Earth’s biosphere. However, knowledge about how environmental contamination affects the biodiversity of groundwater microbiomes and ecosystem functioning remains very limited. Here, we used a comprehensive functional gene array to analyze groundwater microbiomes from 69 wells at the Oak Ridge Field Research Center (Oak Ridge, TN), representing a wide pH range and uranium, nitrate, and other contaminants. We hypothesized that the functional diversity of groundwater microbiomes would decrease as environmental contamination (e.g., uranium or nitrate) increased or at low or high pH, while some specific populations capable of utilizing or resistant to those contaminants would increase, and thus, such key microbial functional genes and/or populations could be used to predict groundwater contamination and ecosystem functioning. Our results indicated that functional richness/diversity decreased as uranium (but not nitrate) increased in groundwater. In addition, about 5.9% of specific key functional populations targeted by a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5) increased significantly (P < 0.05) as uranium or nitrate increased, and their changes could be used to successfully predict uranium and nitrate contamination and ecosystem functioning. This study indicates great potential for using microbial functional genes to predict environmental contamination and ecosystem functioning.http://mbio.asm.org/cgi/content/full/9/1/e02435-17 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Zhili He Ping Zhang Linwei Wu Andrea M. Rocha Qichao Tu Zhou Shi Bo Wu Yujia Qin Jianjun Wang Qingyun Yan Daniel Curtis Daliang Ning Joy D. Van Nostrand Liyou Wu Yunfeng Yang Dwayne A. Elias David B. Watson Michael W. W. Adams Matthew W. Fields Eric J. Alm Terry C. Hazen Paul D. Adams Adam P. Arkin Jizhong Zhou Jennifer Martiny |
spellingShingle |
Zhili He Ping Zhang Linwei Wu Andrea M. Rocha Qichao Tu Zhou Shi Bo Wu Yujia Qin Jianjun Wang Qingyun Yan Daniel Curtis Daliang Ning Joy D. Van Nostrand Liyou Wu Yunfeng Yang Dwayne A. Elias David B. Watson Michael W. W. Adams Matthew W. Fields Eric J. Alm Terry C. Hazen Paul D. Adams Adam P. Arkin Jizhong Zhou Jennifer Martiny Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning mBio |
author_facet |
Zhili He Ping Zhang Linwei Wu Andrea M. Rocha Qichao Tu Zhou Shi Bo Wu Yujia Qin Jianjun Wang Qingyun Yan Daniel Curtis Daliang Ning Joy D. Van Nostrand Liyou Wu Yunfeng Yang Dwayne A. Elias David B. Watson Michael W. W. Adams Matthew W. Fields Eric J. Alm Terry C. Hazen Paul D. Adams Adam P. Arkin Jizhong Zhou Jennifer Martiny |
author_sort |
Zhili He |
title |
Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning |
title_short |
Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning |
title_full |
Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning |
title_fullStr |
Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microbial Functional Gene Diversity Predicts Groundwater Contamination and Ecosystem Functioning |
title_sort |
microbial functional gene diversity predicts groundwater contamination and ecosystem functioning |
publisher |
American Society for Microbiology |
series |
mBio |
issn |
2150-7511 |
publishDate |
2018-02-01 |
description |
Contamination from anthropogenic activities has significantly impacted Earth’s biosphere. However, knowledge about how environmental contamination affects the biodiversity of groundwater microbiomes and ecosystem functioning remains very limited. Here, we used a comprehensive functional gene array to analyze groundwater microbiomes from 69 wells at the Oak Ridge Field Research Center (Oak Ridge, TN), representing a wide pH range and uranium, nitrate, and other contaminants. We hypothesized that the functional diversity of groundwater microbiomes would decrease as environmental contamination (e.g., uranium or nitrate) increased or at low or high pH, while some specific populations capable of utilizing or resistant to those contaminants would increase, and thus, such key microbial functional genes and/or populations could be used to predict groundwater contamination and ecosystem functioning. Our results indicated that functional richness/diversity decreased as uranium (but not nitrate) increased in groundwater. In addition, about 5.9% of specific key functional populations targeted by a comprehensive functional gene array (GeoChip 5) increased significantly (P < 0.05) as uranium or nitrate increased, and their changes could be used to successfully predict uranium and nitrate contamination and ecosystem functioning. This study indicates great potential for using microbial functional genes to predict environmental contamination and ecosystem functioning. |
url |
http://mbio.asm.org/cgi/content/full/9/1/e02435-17 |
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