TY - JOUR
T1 - Microbial insights into the biogeochemical features of thallium occurrence
T2 - A case study from polluted river sediments
AU - Wang, Jin
AU - She, Jingye
AU - Zhou, Yuchen
AU - Tsang, Daniel C.W.
AU - Beiyuan, Jingzi
AU - Xiao, Tangfu
AU - Dong, Xinjiao
AU - Chen, Yongheng
AU - Liu, Juan
AU - Yin, Meiling
AU - Wang, Lulu
PY - 2020/10/15
Y1 - 2020/10/15
N2 - Thallium (Tl) is a trace element with extreme toxicity. Widespread Tl pollution in riverine systems, mainly due to escalating mining and smelting activities of Tl-bearing sulfide minerals, has attracted increasing attention. Insights into the function of the microbial communities with advanced characterization tools are critical for understanding the biogeochemical cycle of Tl. Herein, microbial communities and their adaptive evolution strategies in river sediments from a representative Tl-bearing pyrite mine area in southern China were profiled via 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and shotgun metagenomic analysis. In total, 64 phyla and 778 genera of microorganisms were observed in the studied sediments. The results showed that pH, Tl, Pb, Zn and total organic carbon (TOC) had a significant influence on microbial community structure. Some important reductive microorganisms (such as Erysipelothrix, Geobacter, desulfatiferula, desulfatihabadium and fusibacter) were involved in the biogeochemical cycle of Tl. The ruv, rec, ars and other resistance genes enhanced the tolerance of microorganisms to Tl. The study suggested that relevant C, N and S cycle genes were the main metabolic paths of microorganisms surviving in the high Tl-polluted environment. The findings were critical for establishment, operation and regulation in the microbial treatment of Tl containing or related wastewater.
AB - Thallium (Tl) is a trace element with extreme toxicity. Widespread Tl pollution in riverine systems, mainly due to escalating mining and smelting activities of Tl-bearing sulfide minerals, has attracted increasing attention. Insights into the function of the microbial communities with advanced characterization tools are critical for understanding the biogeochemical cycle of Tl. Herein, microbial communities and their adaptive evolution strategies in river sediments from a representative Tl-bearing pyrite mine area in southern China were profiled via 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and shotgun metagenomic analysis. In total, 64 phyla and 778 genera of microorganisms were observed in the studied sediments. The results showed that pH, Tl, Pb, Zn and total organic carbon (TOC) had a significant influence on microbial community structure. Some important reductive microorganisms (such as Erysipelothrix, Geobacter, desulfatiferula, desulfatihabadium and fusibacter) were involved in the biogeochemical cycle of Tl. The ruv, rec, ars and other resistance genes enhanced the tolerance of microorganisms to Tl. The study suggested that relevant C, N and S cycle genes were the main metabolic paths of microorganisms surviving in the high Tl-polluted environment. The findings were critical for establishment, operation and regulation in the microbial treatment of Tl containing or related wastewater.
KW - Biogeochemical cycles
KW - Gene sequence
KW - Metagenome
KW - Microorganism
KW - Thallium
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086374627&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139957
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139957
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85086374627
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 739
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 139957
ER -