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Linkage between community diversity of sulfate-reducing microorganisms and methylmercury concentration in paddy soil

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Abstract

Sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) have been thought to play a key role in mercury (Hg) methylation in anoxic environments. The current study examined the linkage between SRM abundance and diversity and contents of methylmercury (MeHg) in paddy soils collected from a historical Hg mining area in China. Soil profile samples were collected from four sites over a distance gradient downstream the Hg mining operation. Results showed that MeHg content in the soil of each site significantly decreased with the extending distance away from Hg mine. Soil MeHg content was correlated positively with abundance of SRM and the contents of organic matter (OM), NH4 +, SO4 2−, and Hg. The abundances of SRM based on dissimilatory (bi) sulfite reductase (dsrAB) gene at 0–40 cm depths were higher than those at 40–80 cm depth at all sites. The SRM community composition varied in the soils of different sampling sites following terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and phylogenetic analyses, which appeared to be correlated with contents of MeHg, OM, NH4 +, and SO4 2− through canonical correspondence analysis. The dominant groups of SRM in the soils examined belonged to Deltaproteobacteria and some unknown SRM clusters that could have potential for Hg methylation. These results advance our understanding of the relationship between SRM and methylmercury concentration in paddy soil.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41201523, 41090281). We would like to thank Professor Peter Mather for improving English and Mr. Shi Xingwang for assistance in soil sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Yu-Rong Liu, Yuan-Ming Zheng, Li-Mei Zhang & Ji-Zheng He

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  1. Yu-Rong Liu
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  2. Yuan-Ming Zheng
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Correspondence to Ji-Zheng He.

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Responsible editor: Robert Duran

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Liu, YR., Zheng, YM., Zhang, LM. et al. Linkage between community diversity of sulfate-reducing microorganisms and methylmercury concentration in paddy soil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 1339–1348 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1973-6

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