Microarray-Based Characterization of Microbial Community Functional Structure and Heterogeneity Associated with Acid Mine Drainages

摘要

Acid mine drainage (AMD) presents numerous problems to the aquatic life and surrounding ecosystems. However, little is known about the geographic distribution, diversity, composition, structure and function of AMD microbial communities. In this study, an AMD-specific microarray was used to analyze nine AMD microbial communities, and showed that those nine AMD microbial communities had high variations measured by the number of detected genes, overlapping genes between samples, unique genes, and diversity indices. Statistical analyses indicated that the concentrations of Fe, S, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu and pH had strong impacts on both phylogenetic and functional diversity, composition, and structure of AMD microbial communities. This study provides insights into our understanding of the geographic distribution, diversity, composition, structure and functional potential of AMD microbial communities and key environmental factors shaping them.