Soil Microbiome Dynamics During Pyritic Mine Tailing Phytostabilization: Understanding Microbial Bioindicators of Soil Acidification
Author
Hottenstein, John D.Neilson, Julie W.
Gil-Loaiza, Juliana
Root, Robert A.

White, Scott A.
Chorover, Jon
Maier, Raina M.
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Dept Soil Water & Environm SciIssue Date
2019-06-05Keywords
phytostabilizationmine tailings
acid mine drainage
plant growth-promoting bacteria
iron-oxidizing bacteria
sulfur-oxidizing bacteria
iron-reducing bacteria
mine tailing acidification
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
Frontiers Media SACitation
Hottenstein JD, Neilson JW, Gil-Loaiza J, Root RA, White SA, Chorover J and Maier RM (2019) Soil Microbiome Dynamics During Pyritic Mine Tailing Phytostabilization: Understanding Microbial Bioindicators of Soil Acidification. Front. Microbiol. 10:1211. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01211Journal
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGYRights
Copyright © 2019 Hottenstein, Neilson, Gil-Loaiza, Root, White, Chorover and Maier. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Challenges to the reclamation of pyritic mine tailings arise from in situ acid generation that severely constrains the growth of natural revegetation. While acid mine drainage (AMD) microbial communities are well-studied under highly acidic conditions, fewer studies document the dynamics of microbial communities that generate acid from pyritic material under less acidic conditions that can allow establishment and support of plant growth. This research characterizes the taxonomic composition dynamics of microbial communities present during a 6-year compost-assisted phytostabilization field study in extremely acidic pyritic mine tailings. A complementary microcosm experiment was performed to identify successional community populations that enable the acidification process across a pH gradient. Taxonomic profiles of the microbial populations in both the field study and microcosms reveal shifts in microbial communities that play pivotal roles in facilitating acidification during the transition between moderately and highly acidic conditions. The potential co-occurrence of organoheterotrophic and lithoautotrophic energy metabolisms during acid generation suggests the importance of both groups in facilitating acidification. Taken together, this research suggests that key microbial populations associated with pH transitions could be used as bioindicators for either sustained future plant growth or for acid generation conditions that inhibit further plant growth.Note
Open access journalISSN
1664-302XVersion
Final published versionSponsors
National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program (SRP) [P42 ES004940]ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.3389/fmicb.2019.01211