TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of Anthropogenic Activities on Microbial Community Structure in Riverbed Sediments of East Kazakhstan
AU - Muter, Olga
AU - Gudrā, Dita
AU - Daumova, Gulzhan
AU - Idrisheva, Zhanat
AU - Rakhymberdina, Marzhan
AU - Tabors, Guntis
AU - Dirnena, Baiba
AU - Dobkeviča, Linda
AU - Petrova, Olga
AU - Apshikur, Baitak
AU - Luņģe, Megija
AU - Fridmanis, Dāvids
AU - Dennisov, Igor
AU - Bekishev, Yerkebulan
AU - Kasparinskis, Raimonds
AU - Mukulysova, Zarina
AU - Polezhayev, Stanislav
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors.
PY - 2024/1/24
Y1 - 2024/1/24
N2 - Heavy metal (HMe) pollution in regions with mining and metallurgy activities is known to be a serious environmental problem worldwide. Hydrological processes contribute to the dissemination of HMes (drainage, precipitation, flow rate). The aim of the present study is to investigate the microbial community structure in ten river sediments sampled in different regions of East Kazakhstan, which are contaminated with HMes. The overall degree of sediment contamination with HMes (Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd) was assessed using the pollution index Zc, which ranged from 0.43 to 21.6, with the highest in Ridder City (Zc = 21.6) and Ust-Kamenogorsk City, 0.8 km below the dam of the hydroelectric power station (Zc = 19.6). The tested samples considerably differed in organic matter, total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content, as well as in the abundance of HMe-related functional gene families and antibiotic resistance genes. Metagenomic analysis of benthic microorganisms showed the prevalence of Proteobacteria (88.84–97.61%) and Actinobacteria (1.21–5.98%) at the phylum level in all samples. At the class level, Actinobacteria (21.68–57.48%), Betaproteobacteria (19.38–41.17%), and Alphaproteobacteria (10.0–39.78%) were the most common among the classified reads. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the metagenomic characteristics of benthic microbial communities exposed to chronic HMe pressure in different regions of East Kazakhstan.
AB - Heavy metal (HMe) pollution in regions with mining and metallurgy activities is known to be a serious environmental problem worldwide. Hydrological processes contribute to the dissemination of HMes (drainage, precipitation, flow rate). The aim of the present study is to investigate the microbial community structure in ten river sediments sampled in different regions of East Kazakhstan, which are contaminated with HMes. The overall degree of sediment contamination with HMes (Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd) was assessed using the pollution index Zc, which ranged from 0.43 to 21.6, with the highest in Ridder City (Zc = 21.6) and Ust-Kamenogorsk City, 0.8 km below the dam of the hydroelectric power station (Zc = 19.6). The tested samples considerably differed in organic matter, total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content, as well as in the abundance of HMe-related functional gene families and antibiotic resistance genes. Metagenomic analysis of benthic microorganisms showed the prevalence of Proteobacteria (88.84–97.61%) and Actinobacteria (1.21–5.98%) at the phylum level in all samples. At the class level, Actinobacteria (21.68–57.48%), Betaproteobacteria (19.38–41.17%), and Alphaproteobacteria (10.0–39.78%) were the most common among the classified reads. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the metagenomic characteristics of benthic microbial communities exposed to chronic HMe pressure in different regions of East Kazakhstan.
KW - biodiversity
KW - Heavy metals
KW - microbial community structure
KW - multi-metal resistance
KW - river sediments
KW - heavy metals
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85187280943&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/df6d4551-5be7-3f6f-961f-72c00dbd9e28/
U2 - 10.3390/microorganisms12020246
DO - 10.3390/microorganisms12020246
M3 - Article
SN - 2076-2607
VL - 12
JO - Microorganisms
JF - Microorganisms
IS - 2
M1 - 246
ER -