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Microbial functional genes reveal selection of microbial community by PAHs in polluted soils

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Abstract

This report shows an increase of PAH-related microbial functional genes with PAH concentration in soils. Adaptation of microbial communities to organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is a crucial issue. However, there is little knowledge on mechanisms ruling microbial community selection. Here, we studied microbial functional genes in soils contaminated by PAHs. We used GeoChip, an advanced functional gene array for gene analysis. Soil PAH concentrations were measured and microbial functional genes were categorized. PAH-related microbial functional genes, bph, nah, nidA, phd, dfb, and qor, were quantitatively expressed. Total microbial functional genes and PAH-related microbial functional genes were compared with PAH concentration by cluster analysis and curve-fitting analysis. We found that the average abundance of PAH-related microbial functional genes increased from 0.13 to 0.33, whereas that of total microbial functional genes decreased from 0.22 to 0.10 when PAHs concentration increased from 1.01 to 164.28 mg kg−1. It was also found that the classification of microbial community structure characteristics based on PAH-related microbial functional genes was closely similar to the classification based on PAHs concentration. Findings reveal that PAH stress promotes the dominance of PAH-related microbial communities.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the key research project (Grant Nos. 40730738 and 50878115) supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and Sino-German cooperation fund (2007DFB90460).

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Correspondence to Zhenyi Zhang.

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Zhang, Z., Zhao, X., Liang, Y. et al. Microbial functional genes reveal selection of microbial community by PAHs in polluted soils. Environ Chem Lett 11, 11–17 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-012-0370-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-012-0370-6

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