Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The community structure of sessile heterotrophic bacteria stressed by acid mine drainage

  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Microbial communities that developed on glass slides suspended in acid-polluted (pH=2.9) and nonpolluted (pH=6.5) but otherwise similar waters showed evidence of stress when suspended at the opposite station. Glucose incorporation was inhibited in both translocated communities, but the inhibition was not as severe and recovery of activity was faster for the acid-developed community as compared to the circumneutral community. The communities contained a substantially different set of members with little overlap. The range of pH values at which the members of the acid-developed community could function suggested that the members of that community were generalists, as opposed to narrowly constrained members of the community from the circumneutral station. Based on the proportion of test characters that received positive responses, the organisms from the acidic site were more general in their abilities (47.6% positive) as compared with the neutral counterparts (18.7% positive). The results support the concept that communities developed in extreme environments tend to be generalists, whereas those from mesic environments, due to the higher levels of competition present, tend to be specialists. Furthermore, the study of microbial communities in dynamic systems such as streams and reservoir inflows is facilitated by the use of solid surfaces which allow an assemblage of nontransient microbes to develop.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Baker KH, Mills AL (1982) Determination of the number of respiringThiobacillus ferrooxidans cells in water samples by using combined fluorescent antibody-2-(p-iodophenyl)-3-(p-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Appl Environ Microbiol 43:338–344

    Google Scholar 

  2. Carpenter JM, Odum WE, Mills AL (1983) Decomposition of leaf litter in a lake receiving acid mine drainage. Oikos 41:165–172

    Google Scholar 

  3. Dugan PR, MacMillan CB, Pfister RM (1970) Aerobic heterotrophic bacteria indigenous to pH 2.8 acid mine water: predominant slime-producing bacteria in acid streamers. J Bacteriol 101:982–988

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Fletcher M (1979) A microautoradiographic study of the activity of attached and free-living bacteria. Arch Microbiol 43:122–127

    Google Scholar 

  5. Fletcher M, Marshall KC (1982) Are solid surfaces of ecological significance to aquatic bacteria? In: Marshall KC (ed) Advances in microbial ecology, Vol. 6. Plenum Press, New York, pp 199–236

    Google Scholar 

  6. Geesey GG, Mutch R, Costerton JW, Green RB (1978) Sessile bacteria: an important component of the microbial population in small mountain streams. Limnol Oceanogr 23:1214–1223

    Google Scholar 

  7. Guthrie RK, Cherry DS, Singleton FL (1978) Responses of heterotrophic bacterial populations to pH changes in coal ash effluent. Water Resour Bull 14:803–808

    Google Scholar 

  8. Haack TK, McFeters GA (1982) Microbial dynamics of an epilithic mat community in a high alpine stream. Appl Environ Microbiol 43:702–707

    Google Scholar 

  9. Harrison AP Jr (1978) Microbial succession and mineral leaching in an artificial coal spoil. Appl Environ Microbiol 36:861–869

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Herlihy AT, Mills AL (1985) Sulfate reduction in freshwater sediments receiving acid mine drainage. Appl Environ Microbiol 49:179–186

    Google Scholar 

  11. Heukelekian H, Heller A (1940) Relationship between food concentration and surface for bacterial growth. J Bacteriol 40:547–558

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hobbie JE, Daley RS, Jasper S (1977) Use of Nuclepore filters for counting bacteria by fluorescence microscopy. Appl Environ Microbiol 33:1225–1228

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Hugh R, Liefson E (1953) The taxonomic significance of fermentative versus oxidative metabolism of carbohydrates by various gram-negative bacteria. J Bacteriol 66:24–26

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Kaper JB, Mills AL, Colwell RR (1978) Evaluation of the accuracy and precision of enumerating aerobic heterotrophs in water samples by the spread plate method. Appl Environ Microbiol 35:756–761

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kirchman D, Mitchell R (1982) Contribution of particle-bound bacteria to total microheterotrophic activity in five ponds and two marshes. Appl Environ Microbiol 43:200–209

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kjelleberg S, Humphrey BA, Marshall KC (1982) Effect of interfaces on small, starved marine bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 43:1166–1172

    Google Scholar 

  17. Ladd TI, Costerton JW, Geesey GG (1978) Determination of the heterotrophic activity of epilithic microbial populations. In: Costerton JW, Colwell RR (eds) Native aquatic bacteria: enumeration, activity, and ecology, ASTM STP 695, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, pp 180–195

    Google Scholar 

  18. Lock MA, Wallace RR, Costerton JW, Ventullo RM, Charlton SE (1984) River epilithon: toward a structural-functional model. Oikos 42:10–22

    Google Scholar 

  19. Marshall KC (1976) Interfaces in microbial ecology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  20. McMahon RF, Hunter RD, Russell-Hunter WD (1974) Variation in aufwuchs at six freshwater habitats in terms of carbon biomass and carbon: nitrogen ratio. Hydrobiologia 45:391–404

    Google Scholar 

  21. Millar WN (1973) Heterotrophic bacteria population in acid coal mine water:Flavobacterium acidurans sp. n. Int J Syst Bacteriol 23:142–150

    Google Scholar 

  22. Mills AL (1985) Acid mine waste drainage: microbial impact on the recovery of soil and water ecosystems. In: Tate RL, Klein D (eds) Soil reclamation processes. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 35–81

    Google Scholar 

  23. Mills AL, Maubrey R (1981) The effect of mineral composition on bacterial attachment to submerged rock surfaces. Microb Ecol 7:315–322

    Google Scholar 

  24. Mills AL, Wassel RA (1980) Aspects of measurement of diversity for microbial communities. Appl Environ Microbiol 40:578–586

    Google Scholar 

  25. Sheldon SP, Taylor MK (1982) Community photosynthesis and respiration in experimental streams. Hydrobiologia 87:3–10

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sneath PHA, Sokal RR (1973) Numerical taxonomy. WH Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  27. Wassel RA, Mills AL (1983) Changes in water and sediment bacterial community structure in a lake receiving acid mine drainage. Microb Ecol 9:155–169

    Google Scholar 

  28. Wichlacz PL, Unz RF (1981) Acidophilic, heterotrophic bacteria of acid mine water. Appl Environ Microbiol 41:1254–1261

    Google Scholar 

  29. Zobell CE (1943) The effect of solid surfaces on bacterial activity. J Bacteriol 46:38–59

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Lawrence M. Mallory

    Present address: Department of Biology, Memphis State College, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, 22903, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

    Aaron L. Mills

Authors
  1. Aaron L. Mills
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lawrence M. Mallory
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mills, A.L., Mallory, L.M. The community structure of sessile heterotrophic bacteria stressed by acid mine drainage. Microb Ecol 14, 219–232 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02012942

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02012942

Keywords

Search

Navigation