Effects of Heavy Metal Contamination upon Soil Microbes: Lead-induced Changes in General and Denitrifying Microbial Communities as Evidenced by Molecular Markers
by
Dmitri Sobolev * and Maria Begonia
Dmitri Sobolev * and Maria Begonia
Department of Biology, P. O. Box 18540, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, Jackson State University, 1400 J.R. Lynch St.., Jackson, MS 39217 U.S.A
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2008, 5(5), 450-456; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph5050450
Received: 23 October 2008 / Accepted: 16 December 2008 / Published: 31 December 2008
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Proceedings from the Fifth International Symposium on Recent Advances in Environmental Health Research)
Lead (Pb) is a common environmental contaminant found in soils. Unlike other metals, Pb has no biological role, and is potentially toxic to microorganisms. Effects of low (1 ppm) and high (500-2000) levels of lead (Pb) upon the soil microbial community was investigated by the PCR/DGGE analysis of the 16S and nirK gene markers, indicative of general microbial community and denitrifying community, respectively. Community analysis by use of those markers had shown that Pb has detectable effects upon the community diversity even at the lowest concentration tested. Analysis of sample diversity and similarity between the samples suggested that there are several thresholds crossed as metal concentration increase, each causing a substantial change in microbial diversity. Preliminary data obtained in this study suggest that the denitrifying microbial community adapts to elevated levels of Pb by selecting for metal-resistant forms of nitrite reductases.
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Keywords:
Lead; 16S; soil; DGGE; microbial diversity
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License
MDPI and ACS Style
Sobolev, D.; Begonia, M. Effects of Heavy Metal Contamination upon Soil Microbes: Lead-induced Changes in General and Denitrifying Microbial Communities as Evidenced by Molecular Markers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2008, 5, 450-456.
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