Metagenomic insights into evolution of heavy metal-contaminated groundwater microbial community Page: 3 of 81
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Understanding adaptation of biological communities to environmental change
is a central issue in ecology and evolution. Metagenomic analysis of a stressed
groundwater microbial community reveals that prolonged exposure to high
concentrations of heavy metals, nitric acid and organic solvents (-50 years) have
resulted in a massive decrease in species and allelic diversity as well as a significant
loss of metabolic diversity. Although the surviving microbial community possesses
all metabolic pathways necessary for survival and growth in such an extreme
environment, its structure is very simple, primarily composed of clonal denitrifying
y- and p-proteobacterial populations. The resulting community is over-abundant in
key genes conferring resistance to specific stresses including nitrate, heavy metals
and acetone. Evolutionary analysis indicates that lateral gene transfer could be a
key mechanism in rapidly responding and adapting to environmental
contamination. The results presented in this study have important implications in
understanding, assessing and predicting the impacts of human-induced activities on
microbial communities ranging from human health to agriculture to environmental
management, and their responses to environmental changes. (170/175 words)
Keywords: Groundwater Ecology/Metagenomics/Microbial Community
Evolution/Lateral Gene Transfer/Stress Ecology3
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Hemme, C. L.; Deng, Y.; Gentry, T. J.; Fields, M. W.; Wu, L.; Barua, S. et al. Metagenomic insights into evolution of heavy metal-contaminated groundwater microbial community, article, July 1, 2010; Berkeley, California. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1014098/m1/3/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.