Uncovering the Relationship Between Soil Bacterial Community and Heavy Metals in a Copper Waste Pile

Abstract

In the present study, the relationship between the microbial community and heavy metal content of soil was analyzed based on 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing, in order to screen the corresponding heavy metal-resistant bacteria in a copper mine waste dump and adjacent shrubbery. Approximately 22 phyla, 57 classes, 128 orders, 173 families, 263 genera, 433 species, and 954 OUTs obtained from soil sample species annotation indicated the Spearman relevance analysis at the phylum level. Specifically, Gemmatimonadota is positively correlated with arsenic (As); Patescibacteria is positively correlated with arsenic (As), copper (Cu), and cadmium (Cd); Proteobacteria is positively correlated with chromium (Cr); and Acidobacteriota is positively correlated with cadmium (Cd), respectively. Meanwhile, at the genus level, Acidibacter is positively correlated with arsenic (As); norank_f__LWQ8, norank_f__Gemmataceae, and Bryobacter are positively correlated with cadmium (Cd); Acidiphilium and Conexiactor are positively correlated with Zinc (Zn); norank_f__norank_o__IMCC26256 is positively correlated with nickel (Ni); norank_f__norank_o__norank_c__AD3 is positively correlated with manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni); and Alicyclobacillus and unclassified_f__Acidiferobactereae are positively correlated with chromium (Cr). These bacterial flora are significantly and positively related to the resistance of heavy metals, which provides a promising reference for the development of in situ remediation of heavy metal pollution in mines.