Microbial Community Composition Correlates with Metal Sorption in an Ombrotrophic Boreal Bog: Implications for Radionuclide Retention

Microbial communities throughout the 6.5 m depth profile of a boreal ombrotrophic bog were characterized using amplicon sequencing of archaeal, fungal, and bacterial marker genes. Microbial populations and their relationship to oxic and anoxic batch sorption of radionuclides (using radioactive trace...

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Main Authors: Merja Lusa, Malin Bomberg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Soil Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8789/5/1/19
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author Merja Lusa
Malin Bomberg
author_facet Merja Lusa
Malin Bomberg
author_sort Merja Lusa
collection DOAJ
description Microbial communities throughout the 6.5 m depth profile of a boreal ombrotrophic bog were characterized using amplicon sequencing of archaeal, fungal, and bacterial marker genes. Microbial populations and their relationship to oxic and anoxic batch sorption of radionuclides (using radioactive tracers of I, Se, Cs, Ni, and Ag) and the prevailing metal concentrations in the natural bog was investigated. The majority of the detected archaea belonged to the Crenarchaeota, Halobacterota, and Thermoplasmatota, whereas the fungal communities consisted of Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and unclassified fungi. The bacterial communities consisted mostly of Acidobacteriota, Proteobacteria, and Chloroflexi. The occurrence of several microbial genera were found to statistically significantly correlate with metal concentrations as well as with Se, Cs, I, and Ag batch sorption data. We suggest that the metal concentrations of peat, gyttja, and clay layers affect the composition of the microbial populations in these nutrient-low conditions and that particularly parts of the bacterial and archaeal communities tolerate high concentrations of potentially toxic metals and may concurrently contribute to the total retention of metals and radionuclides in this ombrotrophic environment. In addition, the varying metal concentrations together with chemical, mineralogical, and physical factors may contribute to the shape of the total archaeal and bacterial populations and most probably shifts the populations for more metal resistant genera.
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spelling doaj.art-0216c3c8d9e948ec996ca9bac571ab722023-11-21T11:11:17ZengMDPI AGSoil Systems2571-87892021-03-01511910.3390/soilsystems5010019Microbial Community Composition Correlates with Metal Sorption in an Ombrotrophic Boreal Bog: Implications for Radionuclide RetentionMerja Lusa0Malin Bomberg1Department of Chemistry, Radiochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, FinlandVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Tietotie 2, 02150 Espoo, FinlandMicrobial communities throughout the 6.5 m depth profile of a boreal ombrotrophic bog were characterized using amplicon sequencing of archaeal, fungal, and bacterial marker genes. Microbial populations and their relationship to oxic and anoxic batch sorption of radionuclides (using radioactive tracers of I, Se, Cs, Ni, and Ag) and the prevailing metal concentrations in the natural bog was investigated. The majority of the detected archaea belonged to the Crenarchaeota, Halobacterota, and Thermoplasmatota, whereas the fungal communities consisted of Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and unclassified fungi. The bacterial communities consisted mostly of Acidobacteriota, Proteobacteria, and Chloroflexi. The occurrence of several microbial genera were found to statistically significantly correlate with metal concentrations as well as with Se, Cs, I, and Ag batch sorption data. We suggest that the metal concentrations of peat, gyttja, and clay layers affect the composition of the microbial populations in these nutrient-low conditions and that particularly parts of the bacterial and archaeal communities tolerate high concentrations of potentially toxic metals and may concurrently contribute to the total retention of metals and radionuclides in this ombrotrophic environment. In addition, the varying metal concentrations together with chemical, mineralogical, and physical factors may contribute to the shape of the total archaeal and bacterial populations and most probably shifts the populations for more metal resistant genera.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8789/5/1/19microbial communitiesheavy metal toleranceboreal environmentradionuclide sorption
spellingShingle Merja Lusa
Malin Bomberg
Microbial Community Composition Correlates with Metal Sorption in an Ombrotrophic Boreal Bog: Implications for Radionuclide Retention
Soil Systems
microbial communities
heavy metal tolerance
boreal environment
radionuclide sorption
title Microbial Community Composition Correlates with Metal Sorption in an Ombrotrophic Boreal Bog: Implications for Radionuclide Retention
title_full Microbial Community Composition Correlates with Metal Sorption in an Ombrotrophic Boreal Bog: Implications for Radionuclide Retention
title_fullStr Microbial Community Composition Correlates with Metal Sorption in an Ombrotrophic Boreal Bog: Implications for Radionuclide Retention
title_full_unstemmed Microbial Community Composition Correlates with Metal Sorption in an Ombrotrophic Boreal Bog: Implications for Radionuclide Retention
title_short Microbial Community Composition Correlates with Metal Sorption in an Ombrotrophic Boreal Bog: Implications for Radionuclide Retention
title_sort microbial community composition correlates with metal sorption in an ombrotrophic boreal bog implications for radionuclide retention
topic microbial communities
heavy metal tolerance
boreal environment
radionuclide sorption
url https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8789/5/1/19
work_keys_str_mv AT merjalusa microbialcommunitycompositioncorrelateswithmetalsorptioninanombrotrophicborealbogimplicationsforradionuclideretention
AT malinbomberg microbialcommunitycompositioncorrelateswithmetalsorptioninanombrotrophicborealbogimplicationsforradionuclideretention