The selective pressures on the microbial community in a metal-contaminated aquifer.

ABSTRACT: In many environments, toxic compounds restrict which microorganisms persist. However, in complex mixtures of inhibitory compounds, it is challenging to determine which specific compounds cause changes in abundance and prevent some microorganisms from growing. We focused on a contaminated aquifer in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA that has large gradients of pH and widely varying concentrations of uranium, nitrate, and many other inorganic ions. In the most contaminated wells, the microbial community is enriched in the Rhodanobacter genus. Rhodanobacter abundance is positively correlated with low pH and high concentrations of uranium and 13 other ions and we sought to determine which of these ions are selective pressures that favor the growth of Rhodanobacter over other taxa. Of these ions, low p

SUBMITTER: Carlson HK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6461962 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature