Three Soil Bacterial Communities from an Archaeological Excavation Site of an Ancient Coal Mine near Bennstedt (Germany) Characterized by 16S r-RNA Sequencing
This metagenomics investigation of three closely adjacent sampling sites from an archaeological excavation of a pre-industrial coal mining exploration shaft provides detailed information on the composition of the local soil bacterial communities. The observed significant differences between the samp...
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Environments |
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| author | Linda Ehrhardt P. Mike Günther Manfred Böhme J. Michael Köhler Jialan Cao |
| author_facet | Linda Ehrhardt P. Mike Günther Manfred Böhme J. Michael Köhler Jialan Cao |
| author_sort | Linda Ehrhardt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This metagenomics investigation of three closely adjacent sampling sites from an archaeological excavation of a pre-industrial coal mining exploration shaft provides detailed information on the composition of the local soil bacterial communities. The observed significant differences between the samples, reflected in the 16S r-RNA analyses, were consistent with the archaeologically observed situation distinguishing the coal seam, the rapidly deposited bright sediment inside an exploration shaft, and the topsoil sediment. In general, the soils were characterized by a dominance of <i>Proteobacteria</i>, <i>Actinobacteria</i>, <i>Acidobacteria</i>, and <i>Archaea</i>, whereas the coal seam was characterized by the highest proportion of <i>Proteobacteria</i>; the topsoil was characterized by very high proportions of <i>Archaea</i>—in particular, <i>Nitrosotaleaceae</i>—and <i>Acidobacteria,</i> mainly of Subgroup 2. Interestingly, the samples of the fast-deposited bright sediment showed a rank function of OTU abundances with disproportional values in the lower abundance range. This could be interpreted as a reflection of the rapid redeposition of soil material during the refilling of the exploration shaft in the composition of the soil bacterial community. This interpretation is supported by the observation of a comparatively high proportion of reads relating to bacteria known to be alkaliphilic in this soil material. In summary, these investigations confirm that metagenomic analyses of soil material from archaeological excavations can provide valuable information about the local soil bacterial communities and the historical human impacts on them. |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:05:16Z |
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| series | Environments |
| spelling | doaj.art-62a8d3e4b6104878bf97e574bc7e5c822023-11-23T16:09:50ZengMDPI AGEnvironments2076-32982022-09-019911510.3390/environments9090115Three Soil Bacterial Communities from an Archaeological Excavation Site of an Ancient Coal Mine near Bennstedt (Germany) Characterized by 16S r-RNA SequencingLinda Ehrhardt0P. Mike Günther1Manfred Böhme2J. Michael Köhler3Jialan Cao4Department of Physical Chemistry and Microreaction Technologies, Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Technical University Ilmenau, Prof.-Schmidt-Str. 26, D-98693 Ilmenau, GermanyDepartment of Physical Chemistry and Microreaction Technologies, Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Technical University Ilmenau, Prof.-Schmidt-Str. 26, D-98693 Ilmenau, GermanyLandesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, D-06020 Halle/Saale, GermanyDepartment of Physical Chemistry and Microreaction Technologies, Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Technical University Ilmenau, Prof.-Schmidt-Str. 26, D-98693 Ilmenau, GermanyDepartment of Physical Chemistry and Microreaction Technologies, Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Technical University Ilmenau, Prof.-Schmidt-Str. 26, D-98693 Ilmenau, GermanyThis metagenomics investigation of three closely adjacent sampling sites from an archaeological excavation of a pre-industrial coal mining exploration shaft provides detailed information on the composition of the local soil bacterial communities. The observed significant differences between the samples, reflected in the 16S r-RNA analyses, were consistent with the archaeologically observed situation distinguishing the coal seam, the rapidly deposited bright sediment inside an exploration shaft, and the topsoil sediment. In general, the soils were characterized by a dominance of <i>Proteobacteria</i>, <i>Actinobacteria</i>, <i>Acidobacteria</i>, and <i>Archaea</i>, whereas the coal seam was characterized by the highest proportion of <i>Proteobacteria</i>; the topsoil was characterized by very high proportions of <i>Archaea</i>—in particular, <i>Nitrosotaleaceae</i>—and <i>Acidobacteria,</i> mainly of Subgroup 2. Interestingly, the samples of the fast-deposited bright sediment showed a rank function of OTU abundances with disproportional values in the lower abundance range. This could be interpreted as a reflection of the rapid redeposition of soil material during the refilling of the exploration shaft in the composition of the soil bacterial community. This interpretation is supported by the observation of a comparatively high proportion of reads relating to bacteria known to be alkaliphilic in this soil material. In summary, these investigations confirm that metagenomic analyses of soil material from archaeological excavations can provide valuable information about the local soil bacterial communities and the historical human impacts on them.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/9/9/115soil ecologybacterial communitiescoal miningarchaeologymetagenomicsecological memory |
| spellingShingle | Linda Ehrhardt P. Mike Günther Manfred Böhme J. Michael Köhler Jialan Cao Three Soil Bacterial Communities from an Archaeological Excavation Site of an Ancient Coal Mine near Bennstedt (Germany) Characterized by 16S r-RNA Sequencing Environments soil ecology bacterial communities coal mining archaeology metagenomics ecological memory |
| title | Three Soil Bacterial Communities from an Archaeological Excavation Site of an Ancient Coal Mine near Bennstedt (Germany) Characterized by 16S r-RNA Sequencing |
| title_full | Three Soil Bacterial Communities from an Archaeological Excavation Site of an Ancient Coal Mine near Bennstedt (Germany) Characterized by 16S r-RNA Sequencing |
| title_fullStr | Three Soil Bacterial Communities from an Archaeological Excavation Site of an Ancient Coal Mine near Bennstedt (Germany) Characterized by 16S r-RNA Sequencing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Three Soil Bacterial Communities from an Archaeological Excavation Site of an Ancient Coal Mine near Bennstedt (Germany) Characterized by 16S r-RNA Sequencing |
| title_short | Three Soil Bacterial Communities from an Archaeological Excavation Site of an Ancient Coal Mine near Bennstedt (Germany) Characterized by 16S r-RNA Sequencing |
| title_sort | three soil bacterial communities from an archaeological excavation site of an ancient coal mine near bennstedt germany characterized by 16s r rna sequencing |
| topic | soil ecology bacterial communities coal mining archaeology metagenomics ecological memory |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/9/9/115 |
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