Sili Chen: South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, China.
Ningning Li: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Sha Chang: South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, China.
Dinghao Chen: South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, China.
Shuguang Xie: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China. xiesg@pku.edu.cn.
Qingwei Guo: South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (SCIES), Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, 510655, China. guoqingwei@scies.org.
Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria can play an important role in nitrogen elimination in the environment. However, the effect of heavy metals on anammox bacteria in aquatic ecosystem remains largely unknown. The present study investigated the variability of anammox bacterial community in a freshwater reservoir after a severe heavy metal spill. The richness (Chao1 richness estimator = 2-18), diversity (Shannon index = 0.26-2.04) and community structure of anammox bacteria changed considerably with sampling date, while anammox bacterial abundance (from 1.38 × 10 to 3.09 × 10 anammox bacterial 16S rRNA gene copies per gram dry sediment) was less responsive to metal spill. Anammox bacterial communities were mainly composed of Brocadia- and Anammoxoglobus-like bacteria as well as novel phylotype, however, there relative abundance varied among sampling dates. This work could add the knowledge of the response of anammox bacteria to heavy metal contamination.
