Characteristics of Sediment Bacterial Community in Response to Environmental Impacts in a Sewage Polluted River

• Published in: Journal of coastal research 2016-03, Vol.74 (sp1), p.196-206
• Main Authors: Li, Jialin, Lin, Shaoying, Qin, Song
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacterial composition; Chemical composition; environmental contaminants; Libraries; Nitrates; Nitrogen; Polymerase chain reaction; river eutrophication; river sediments; River water; Sediment contamination; Sediments; Soil pollution; Water pollution
• ISSN: 1551-5036; 0749-0208; 1551-5036
• DOI: 10.2112/SI74-017.1

Li, J. L.; Lin, S. Y., and Song, Q., 2016. Characteristics of sediment bacterial community in response to environmental impacts in a sewage polluted river. The Jiaolai River is the main source of industrial and irrigation water for its catchment of 3900 km2. Anthropogenic activities have caused heavy pollution of this river, but their impacts on biota have never been evaluated. In this study, molecular techniques were applied to investigate the impacts of environmental pollution on the river. Quantitative PCR revealed that total bacterial abundance ranged from 2.90×107 to 2.12×108 copies/g, with no significant differences among sampling sites or seasons. Bacterial abundance and pore water ammonium concentration were negatively correlated. Cluster analysis revealed that bacterial communities were mainly distributed into groups corresponding to nitrate concentration. Two clone libraries were constructed to compare the bacterial composition of samples with high (J308) and moderate (J304) nitrate impact. Sample J308 was characterized by more members in Clostridia and disappearance of Betaproteobacteria members, which are the primary contributors to nitrogen biogeochemical cycling. Bacterial communities in the sediment were clearly differentiated by environmental nitrogen pollution, suggesting that nitrogen eutrophication was the main environmental problem influencing the Jiaolai River.