Community-level physiological profiles of microorganisms inhabiting soil contaminated with heavy metals

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of the study was to assess the differences in the bacterial community physiological profiles in soils contaminated with heavy metalsversussoils without metal contaminations. The study’s contaminated soil originated from the surrounding area of the Szopienice non-ferrous metal smelter (Silesia Region, Poland). The control was soil unexposed to heavy metals. Metal concentration was appraised by flame atomic absorption spectrometry, whereas the the community-level physiological profile was determined with the Biolog EcoPlatesTMsystem. The soil microbiological activity in both sites was also assessedviadehydrogenase activity. The mean concentrations of metals (Cd and Zn) in contaminated soil samples were in a range from 147.27 to 12265.42 mg kg−1, and the heavy metal contamination brought about a situation where dehydrogenase activity inhibition was observed mostly in the soil surface layers. Our results demonstrated that there is diversity in the physiological profiles of microorganisms inhabiting contaminated and colntrol soils; therefore, for assessment purposes, these were treated as two clusters. Cluster I included colntrol soil samples in which microbial communities utilised most of the available substrates. Cluster II incorporated contaminated soil samples in which a smaller number of the tested substrates was utilised by the contained microorganisms. The physiological profiles of micro-organisms inhabiting the contaminated and the colntrol soils are distinctly different.