Two birch clones originating from metal-contaminated sites were exposed for 3 months to soils (sand-peat ratio 1:1 or 4:1) spiked with a mixture of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; anthracene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene, pyrene). PAH degradation differed between the two birch clones and also by the soil type. The statistically most significant elimination (p <= 0.01), i.e. 88% of total PAHs, was observed in the more sandy soil planted with birch, the clearest positive effect being found with Betula pubescens clone on phenanthrene. PAHs and soil composition had rather small effects on birch protein complement. Three proteins with clonal differences were identified: ferritin-like protein, auxin-induced protein and peroxidase. Differences in planted and non-planted soils were detected in bacterial communities by 16S rRNA T-RFLP, and the overall bacterial community structures were diverse. Even though both represent complex systems, trees and rhizoidal microbes in combination can provide interesting possibilities for bioremediation of PAH-polluted soils. Birch can enhance degradation of PAH compounds in the rhizosphere.

The disposal of biosolids poses a major environmental and economic problem. Agricultural use is generally regarded as the best means of disposal. However, its impact on soil ecosystems remains uncertain. Biosolids can improve soil properties by supplying nutrients and increasing organic matter content but there is also a potentially detrimental effect arising from the introduction of heavy metals into soils. To assess the balance between these competing effects on soil health, we investigated soil bacterial and fungal diversity and community structure at a site that has been dedicated to the disposal of sewage sludge for over 100 years. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) was used to characterize the soil microbial communities. The most important contaminants at the site were Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb. Concentrations were highly correlated and Zn concentration was adopted as a good indicator of the overall (historical) biosolids loading. A biosolids loading, equivalent to 700–1000 mg kg⁻¹ Zn appeared to be optimal for maximum bacterial and fungal diversity. This markedly exceeds the maximum soil Zn concentration of 300 mg kg⁻¹permitted under the current UK Sludge (use in agriculture) Regulations. Redundancy analysis (RDA) suggested that the soil microbial communities had been altered in response to the accumulation of trace metals, especially Zn, Cd, and Cu. We believe this is the first time the trade-off between positive and negative effects of long term (>100 years) biosolids disposal on soil microorganisms have been observed in the field situation.

Developed landscapes are exposed to changes in hydrology and water chemistry that limit their ability to mitigate detrimental impacts to coastal water bodies, particularly those that result from stormwater runoff. The elevated level of impervious cover increases not only runoff but also contaminant loading of nutrients, metals, and road salt used for deicing to water bodies. Here we investigate the impact that road salt has on denitrification in roadside environments. Sediments were collected from a series of forested and roadside wetlands and acclimated with a range of Cl− concentrations from 0 to 5000 mg L−1 for 96 h. Denitrification rates were measured by the isotope pairing technique using 15N–NO3−, while denitrifying community structures were compared using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of nitrous oxide reductase genes (nosZ). Chloride significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited denitrification in forested wetlands at a Cl− dosage of 2500 or 5000 mg L−1, but the decrease in denitrification rates was less and not significant for the roadside wetlands historically exposed to elevated concentrations of Cl−. The difference could not be attributed to other significant changes in conditions, such as DOC concentrations, N species concentrations, or pH levels. Denitrifying communities, as measured by T-RFs of the nosZ gene, in the roadside wetlands with elevated concentration of Cl− were distinctly different and more diverse compared to forested wetlands, and also different in roadside wetlands after 96 h exposures to Cl−. The shifts in denitrifying communities seem to minimize the decrease in denitrification rates in the wetlands previously exposed to Cl. As development results in more Cl− use and exposure to a broad range of natural or manmade wetland structures, an understanding of the seasonal effect of Cl on denitrification processes in these systems would aid in design or mitigation of the effects on N removal rates.

Concentrations of metals associated with sediments have traditionally been analysed to assess the extent of heavy metal contamination in freshwater environments. Stream biofilms present an alternative medium for this assessment which may be more relevant to the risk incurred by stream ecosystems as they are intensively grazed by aquatic organisms at a higher trophic level. Therefore, we investigated zinc, copper and lead concentrations in biofilms and sediments of 23 stream sites variously impacted by urbanisation. Simultaneously, biofilm bacterial and ciliate protozoan community structure was analysed by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis and Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that biofilm associated metals explained a greater proportion of the variations observed in bacterial and ciliate communities than did sediment associated-metals. This study suggests that the analysis of metal concentrations in biofilms provide a good assessment of detrimental effects of metal contaminants on aquatic biota.

The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha constitutes an extensively used sentinel species for biomonitoring in European and North American freshwater systems. However, this invasive species is gradually replaced in freshwater ecosystem by Dreissena bugensis, a closely related dreissenid species that shares common morphological characteristics but possess some physiological differences. However, few are known about differences on more integrated physiological processes that are generally used as biomarkers in biological monitoring studies. Declining of zebra mussel populations raises the question of the sustainability of using one or both species indifferently to maintain the quality of environmental pollution monitoring data. In our study, we performed a field comparative study measuring immune-related markers and bioaccumulation of PCBs, PAHs and PBDEs in sympatrically occurring mussel populations from three sites of the St. Lawrence River. For tested organisms, species were identified using RFLP analysis. Measurement of bioaccumulated organic compounds indicated a higher accumulation of PCBs and PBDEs in D. bugensis soft tissues compared to D. polymorpha while no differences were noticed for PAHs. Results of hemocytic parameters highlighted that differences of hemocyte distributions were associated to modulations of phagocytic activities. Moreover, marked differences occurred in measurement of hemocytic oxidative activity, indicating divergences between the two species for ROS regulation strategies. This physiological characteristic may deeply influence species responses facing environmental or pollution related stress and induce bias if the two species are not differentiated in further biomarker or bioaccumulation measurement-based studies.

The effluents from wastewater treatment plants have been recognized as a significant environmental reservoir of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Reclaimed water irrigation (RWI) is increasingly used as a practical solution for combating water scarcity in arid and semiarid regions, however, impacts of RWI on the patterns of ARGs and the soil bacterial community remain unclear. Here, we used high-throughput quantitative PCR and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques to compare the diversity, abundance and composition of a broad-spectrum of ARGs and total bacteria in 12 urban parks with and without RWI in Victoria, Australia. A total of 40 unique ARGs were detected across all park soils, with genes conferring resistance to β-lactam being the most prevalent ARG type. The total numbers and the fold changes of the detected ARGs were significantly increased by RWI, and marked shifts in ARG patterns were also observed in urban parks with RWI compared to those without RWI. The changes in ARG patterns were paralleled by a significant effect of RWI on the bacterial community structure and a co-occurrence pattern of the detected ARG types. There were significant and positive correlations between the fold changes of the integrase intI1 gene and two β-lactam resistance genes (KPC and IMP-2 groups), but no significant impacts of RWI on the abundances of intI1 and the transposase tnpA gene were found, indicating that RWI did not improve the potential for horizontal gene transfer of soil ARGs. Taken together, our findings suggested that irrigation of urban parks with reclaimed water could influence the abundance, diversity, and compositions of a wide variety of soil ARGs of clinical relevance.Irrigation of urban parks with treated wastewater significantly increased the abundance and diversity of various antibiotic resistance genes, but did not significantly enhance their potential for horizontal gene transfer.

Little knowledge is available about the potential impact of commercial silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) on estuarine microbial communities. The Hugli river estuary, India, is susceptible to heavy metals pollution through boat traffic, and there is the potential for Ag-NP exposure via effluent discharged from ongoing municipal and industrial activities located in close proximity. This study investigated the effects of commercial Ag-NPs on native microbial communities in estuarine sediments collected from five stations, using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) technique. An increase in the number of bacteria in consortium in sediments was observed following exposure to Ag-NPs. In general microbial communities may be resistant in estuarine systems to the antimicrobial effects of commercial Ag-NPs, but key microorganisms, such as Pelobacter propionicus, disappeared following exposure to Ag-NPs. In conclusion, the T-RFLP analysis indicated that Ag-NPs have the potential to shape estuarine sediment bacterial community structure.

Understanding the ecology of sediments that are contaminated with heavy metals is critical for bioremediating these sediments, which has become a public concern over the course of the development of modern industry. To investigate the bacterial community composition of sediments that are contaminated with heavy metals in the Xiangjiang River, a total of four sediment samples contaminated with multiple heavy metals were obtained, and a culture-independent molecular analysis, polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP), was performed. The results revealed that heavy metal pollution affected the sediment microbial community diversity, and the greatest species diversity appeared in the moderately polluted sediment X sample. The dominant family in these sediments includes α-Proteobacteria, β-Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Moreover, α-Proteobacteria was significantly increased with increases in heavy metal. A redundancy analysis (RDA) also confirmed this phenomenon.

Disposal of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent into sea, a typical anthropogenic disturbance, may influence many environmental factors and change the coastal microbial community structure. In this study, by setting up coastal sediment microcosms perturbed by WWTP effluent, the changes of microbial community structure under different degree of disturbances were investigated. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) were used to analyzed the biomass and biodiversity. High throughput sequencing analysis was used to identify the classification of the microorganisms. Our study suggested that low ratio of WWTP effluent may stimulate dominant species, which increase the biomass but decrease the biodiversity; while high ratio of WWTP effluent may depress all species, which decrease the biomass but increase the biodiversity. In other words, the impact was dose-dependent. The changes of microbial community structure may provide a metric for water environmental assessment and pollution control.

The natural petroleum hydrocarbon degrading capacity of the Archipelago Sea water in S-W Finland was studied in a microcosm experiment. Pristine and previously oil exposed sites were examined. Bacterial community fingerprinting was performed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and samples from selected microcosms were sequenced. The abundance of PAH degradation genes was measured by quantitative PCR. Bacterial communities in diesel exposed microcosms diverged from control microcosms during the experiment. Gram positive PAH degradation genes dominated at both sites in situ, whereas gram negative PAH degrading genes became enriched in diesel microcosms. The dominant bacterial groups after a 14 days of diesel exposure were different depending on the sampling site, belonging to the class Actinobacteria (32%) at a pristine site and Betaproteobacteria (52%) at a previously oil exposed site. The hydrocarbon degrading bacteria in the Baltic Sea differ from those in the oceans, where most hydrocarbon degraders belong to Gammaproteobacteria.