A novel acidophile community populating waste ore deposits at an acid mine drainage site

doi:10.1016/S1001-0742(07)60074-6

Journal of Environmental Sciences

Volume 19, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 444-450

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1001-0742(07)60074-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

Waste ore samples (pH 3.0) were collected at an acid mine drainage (AMD) site in Anhui, China. The present acidophilic microbial community in the waste ore was studied with 16S rRNA gene clone library and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Eighteen different clones were identified and affiliated with Actinobacteria, low G + C Gram-positives, Thermomicrobia, Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, candidate division TM7, and Planctomycetes. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed a diversity of acidophiles in the samples that were mostly novel. It is unexpected that the moderately thermophilic acidophiles were abundant in the acidic ecosystem and may play a great role in the generation of AMD. The result of DGGE was consistent with that of clone library analysis. These findings help in the better understanding of the generation mechanism of AMD and in developing a more efficient method to control AMD.

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Development of a small-scale bioreactor method to monitor the molecular diversity and environmental impacts of bacterial biofilm communities from an acid mine drainage impacted creek
2011, Journal of Microbiological Methods
Citation Excerpt :
Species such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Leptospirillum ferrooxidans and Ferroplasma acidiphilum are known to accelerate the rate-limiting step of pyrite oxidation, (Colmer and Hinkle, 1947; Dugan and Lundgren, 1965; Dugan, 1975; Apel et al., 1976; Schrenk et al., 1998; Rawlings et al., 1999; Golyshina and Timmis, 2005; Fredrickson and Gorby, 1996; Johnson, 1998; Mielke et al., 2003) and thus have been extensively studied. However, the overall diversity of microbial communities in AMD-impacted streams has only recently begun to be appreciated (Bond et al., 2000b; Kim et al., 2001; Brake et al., 2001; Brofft, et al., 2002; Johnson and Hallberg, 2003: Baker et al., 2004; Lopez-Archilla et al., 2004; Bruneel, et al., 2005; Hallberg et al., 2006; Hao et al., 2007; He et al., 2007; Neculita et al., 2007; Damme et al., 2008; Nicomrat et al., 2008; Yin et al., 2008; Das et al., 2009). Although it is likely that these communities play critical roles in processes such as the biogeochemical cycling of metals and sulfur that are central to the generation and remediation of AMD, (Johnson, 1998; Labrenz and Banfield, 2004; Kalin et al., 2006; Weber et al., 2006; Rowe et al., 2007; Wang, et al., 2008; Lu et al., 2010) their ecological roles in AMD-impacted environments remain largely unstudied.
Shamokin Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania that is heavily impacted by the acid mine drainage (AMD) caused by the oxidation of pyrite from the region's extensive anthracite coal mining industry. Recent studies have begun to characterize the microbial communities present in this and other AMD-impacted waters, but varying environmental conditions have complicated attempts to determine the ecological impacts of individual bacterial species within these communities. This study developed a small-scale biofilm reactor protocol that allowed us to simultaneously monitor the development of bacterial biofilm communities in AMD-impacted creek collected water using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of 16S rRNA genes, while assessing the impacts that the developing biofilms were having on water quality. Our analysis confirmed that the diversity and composition of these small in situ biofilm communities could be monitored using molecular methods, and indicated the possible presence of many taxa frequently found in AMD environments, including Sulfobacillus, Nitrospira, Desulfovibrio, Geobacter, and Leptothrix species. A significant increase in the total sulfate was observed in the bioreactor, and as most likely due to the accumulation of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria such as Sulfobacillus in the biofilms. This system will allow us to study the microbial ecology of Shamokin Creek through controlled experiments that will ultimately integrate microscopic, molecular, physiological and chemical analyses, and that can be utilized to develop more effective and cost-efficient environmental remediation techniques for AMD-impacted areas.
Investigating the oxidation mechanism of facet-dependent pyrite: implications for the environment and sulfur evolution
2023, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts
Investigating the Oxidation Mechanism of Facet-Dependent Pyrite: Implications for The Environment And Sulfur Evolution
2022, SSRN
Prokaryotic diversity in stream sediments affected by acid mine drainage
2020, Extremophiles
A meta-taxonomic investigation of the prokaryotic diversity of water bodies impacted by acid mine drainage from the São Domingos mine in southern Portugal
2019, Extremophiles
Microalgae–bacteria biofilms: a sustainable synergistic approach in remediation of acid mine drainage
2018, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

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: Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2004CB719704)

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References (26)

Biodiversity and ecology of acidophilic microorganisms[J]

FEMS Microbiol Ecol

Molecular identification of an endosymbiotic bacterium associated with pederin biosynthesis in Paederus sabaeus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)[J]

Insect Biochem Molec

Diversity of 16S ribosomal DNA-defined bacterial population in acid rock drainage from Japanese pyrite mine[J]

J Biosci & Bioeng

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Hydrometallurgy

Biochemistry of sulfur extraction in bio-corrosion of pyrite by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans[J]

Hydrometallurgy

Microbiological and chemical characteristics of an acidic stream draining a disused copper mine[J]

Environ Pollut

Design and evaluation of PCR primers to amplify bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA fragments used for community fingerprinting[J]

J Microbiol Meth

Accelerated sulfur cycle in coastal marine sediment beneath areas of intensive shellfish aquaculture[J]

Appl Environ Microbiol

Comparison of acid mine drainage microbial communities in physically and geochemically distinct ecosystems[J]

Appl Environ Microbiol

Recovery of novel bacterial diversity from a forested wetland impacted by reject coal[J]

Environ Microbiol

Acid mine drainage biogeochemistry at Iron Mountain, California[J]

Geochem Trans

An archaeal iron-oxidizing extreme acidophilcarchaea is implicated in acid mine drainage generation[J]

Science

Molecular microbial diversity of an anaerobic digestor as determined by small-subunit rDNA sequence analysis[J]

Appl Environ Microbiol

Cited by (15)

Development of a small-scale bioreactor method to monitor the molecular diversity and environmental impacts of bacterial biofilm communities from an acid mine drainage impacted creek

Investigating the oxidation mechanism of facet-dependent pyrite: implications for the environment and sulfur evolution

Investigating the Oxidation Mechanism of Facet-Dependent Pyrite: Implications for The Environment And Sulfur Evolution

Prokaryotic diversity in stream sediments affected by acid mine drainage

A meta-taxonomic investigation of the prokaryotic diversity of water bodies impacted by acid mine drainage from the São Domingos mine in southern Portugal

Microalgae–bacteria biofilms: a sustainable synergistic approach in remediation of acid mine drainage