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Bacterial communities in trace metal contaminated lake sediments are dominated by endospore-forming bacteria

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Abstract

Lake sediments in areas close to the outlet of wastewater treatment plants are sinks for pollutants. Bacterial communities in sediments are likely affected by the released effluents, but in turn they might modify the distribution and bioavailability of pollutants. On the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland, wastewater from the City of Lausanne is treated and discharged into the lake via an outlet pipe in the Vidy Bay. The objectives of this study were to assess (1) the impact of the treated wastewater release on the bacterial communities in the Vidy Bay sediments and (2) the potential link between bacterial communities and trace metal sediment content. Bacterial community composition and abundance were assessed in sediments collected in three areas with different levels of contamination. The main factors affecting bacterial communities were inferred by linking biological data with chemical analyses on these sediments. Near to the outlet pipe, large quantities of bacterial cells were detected in the three upper most cm (3.2 × 109 cells assessed by microscopy and 1.7 × 1010 copies of the 16S rRNA gene assessed by quantitative PCR, per gram of wet sediment), and the dominant bacterial groups were those typically found in activated sludge (e.g. Acidovorax defluivii and Hydrogenophaga caeni). Three samples in an area further away from the outlet and one sample close to it were characterized by 50 % of endospore-forming Firmicutes (Clostridium spp.) and a clear enrichment in trace metal content. These results highlight the potential role of endospore-forming Firmicutes on transport and deposition of trace metals in sediments.

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Acknowledgments

This publication is part of the international, interdisciplinary research project ELEMO (http://www.elemo.ch) to investigate the deep-waters of Lake Geneva using two Russian MIR submarines. Funding for this study was provided by the Fondation pour l’Etude des Eaux du Léman (FEEL). Additional funding for the work described in this paper was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant 31003A_132358). We are grateful for the support. We thank the Russian MIR crew members (http://www.elemo.ch/mir-team) for their excellent performance and the SAGRAVE team who provided and operated the platform from which the dives were carried out. We also thank Ulrich Lemmin and Jean-Denis Bourquin for project coordination. The service of Mikhail Kranoperov (Russian Honorary Consulate) as liaison is greatly appreciated. Special thanks to Jean-Claude Lavanchy from the Centre of Mineral Analysis (CAM), University of Lausanne, for helping with elemental analysis, and Radu Slobodeanu, from the University of Neuchâtel, for helping on statistical analysis. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for the valuable comments to improve this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pilar Junier.

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This article is part of the special issue “éLEMO – investigations using MIR submersibles in Lake Geneva”.

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Sauvain, L., Bueche, M., Junier, T. et al. Bacterial communities in trace metal contaminated lake sediments are dominated by endospore-forming bacteria. Aquat Sci 76 (Suppl 1), 33–46 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-013-0313-8

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