Microbial Diversity, Co-Occurrence Patterns, and Functional Genes of Bacteria in Aged Coking Contaminated Soils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications to Soil Health and Bioremediation

PAH contamination from coking plants have received widespread attention. However, the microbial diversity, co-occurrence patterns, and functional genes of bacteria in aged coking contaminated soils by PAHs are still not clear. In our study, we used a macro-genetic approach to detect PAH-contaminated...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Liping Zheng, Yifan Yan, Qun Li, Junyang Du, Xiaosong Lu, Li Xu, Qunhui Xie, Yangsheng Chen, Aiguo Zhang, Bin Zhao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Microorganisms
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/4/869
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850144664539103232
author Liping Zheng
Yifan Yan
Qun Li
Junyang Du
Xiaosong Lu
Li Xu
Qunhui Xie
Yangsheng Chen
Aiguo Zhang
Bin Zhao
author_facet Liping Zheng
Yifan Yan
Qun Li
Junyang Du
Xiaosong Lu
Li Xu
Qunhui Xie
Yangsheng Chen
Aiguo Zhang
Bin Zhao
author_sort Liping Zheng
collection DOAJ
description PAH contamination from coking plants have received widespread attention. However, the microbial diversity, co-occurrence patterns, and functional genes of bacteria in aged coking contaminated soils by PAHs are still not clear. In our study, we used a macro-genetic approach to detect PAH-contaminated soils from both a coking production area (CA group) and an office zone (OA group) in an abandoned coking plant, and analyzed the characteristic bacteria and function genes, microbial network interaction patterns, and soil P-cycling in long-term PAH-contaminated soils. The results revealed that <i>Proteobacteria</i> were significantly positively correlated with PAHs and <i>Betaprobacteria bacterium</i> rifcsplowo2 12 full 6514, candidatus <i>Muproteobacteria bacterium</i> RBG16609, and <i>Sulfurifustis variabilis</i>, which belong to <i>Proteobacteria</i>, were characteristic bacteria in PAH-contaminated soils. The phn, which is the PAH degradation gene, was abundantly expressed in the PAH-contaminated soil. The <i>phn</i> gene cluster genes (<i>phnE</i>, <i>phnC</i>, and <i>phnD</i>) were significantly expressed in the CA group of PAH-contaminated soils (<i>p</i> < 0.05). By integrating microbial diversity, network structure, and functional genes, it offers a comprehensive understanding of soil ecosystem response indicators to prolonged PAH stress. The results of this study will provide new ideas for constructing an assessment index system for soil health and screening biomarkers for PAH-contaminated soils.
format Article
id doaj-art-c07c5340a38c405db536ca62c06ee03e
institution OA Journals
issn 2076-2607
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Microorganisms
spelling doaj-art-c07c5340a38c405db536ca62c06ee03e2025-08-20T02:28:18ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072025-04-0113486910.3390/microorganisms13040869Microbial Diversity, Co-Occurrence Patterns, and Functional Genes of Bacteria in Aged Coking Contaminated Soils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications to Soil Health and BioremediationLiping Zheng0Yifan Yan1Qun Li2Junyang Du3Xiaosong Lu4Li Xu5Qunhui Xie6Yangsheng Chen7Aiguo Zhang8Bin Zhao9State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaNanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, ChinaNanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, ChinaNanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, ChinaNanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaSchool of Environment, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou 310024, ChinaNanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, ChinaSchool of Environment, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou 310024, ChinaPAH contamination from coking plants have received widespread attention. However, the microbial diversity, co-occurrence patterns, and functional genes of bacteria in aged coking contaminated soils by PAHs are still not clear. In our study, we used a macro-genetic approach to detect PAH-contaminated soils from both a coking production area (CA group) and an office zone (OA group) in an abandoned coking plant, and analyzed the characteristic bacteria and function genes, microbial network interaction patterns, and soil P-cycling in long-term PAH-contaminated soils. The results revealed that <i>Proteobacteria</i> were significantly positively correlated with PAHs and <i>Betaprobacteria bacterium</i> rifcsplowo2 12 full 6514, candidatus <i>Muproteobacteria bacterium</i> RBG16609, and <i>Sulfurifustis variabilis</i>, which belong to <i>Proteobacteria</i>, were characteristic bacteria in PAH-contaminated soils. The phn, which is the PAH degradation gene, was abundantly expressed in the PAH-contaminated soil. The <i>phn</i> gene cluster genes (<i>phnE</i>, <i>phnC</i>, and <i>phnD</i>) were significantly expressed in the CA group of PAH-contaminated soils (<i>p</i> < 0.05). By integrating microbial diversity, network structure, and functional genes, it offers a comprehensive understanding of soil ecosystem response indicators to prolonged PAH stress. The results of this study will provide new ideas for constructing an assessment index system for soil health and screening biomarkers for PAH-contaminated soils.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/4/869PAHscoking plantmicrobial diversityco-occurrence patternsfunctional gene
spellingShingle Liping Zheng
Yifan Yan
Qun Li
Junyang Du
Xiaosong Lu
Li Xu
Qunhui Xie
Yangsheng Chen
Aiguo Zhang
Bin Zhao
Microbial Diversity, Co-Occurrence Patterns, and Functional Genes of Bacteria in Aged Coking Contaminated Soils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications to Soil Health and Bioremediation
Microorganisms
PAHs
coking plant
microbial diversity
co-occurrence patterns
functional gene
title Microbial Diversity, Co-Occurrence Patterns, and Functional Genes of Bacteria in Aged Coking Contaminated Soils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications to Soil Health and Bioremediation
title_full Microbial Diversity, Co-Occurrence Patterns, and Functional Genes of Bacteria in Aged Coking Contaminated Soils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications to Soil Health and Bioremediation
title_fullStr Microbial Diversity, Co-Occurrence Patterns, and Functional Genes of Bacteria in Aged Coking Contaminated Soils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications to Soil Health and Bioremediation
title_full_unstemmed Microbial Diversity, Co-Occurrence Patterns, and Functional Genes of Bacteria in Aged Coking Contaminated Soils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications to Soil Health and Bioremediation
title_short Microbial Diversity, Co-Occurrence Patterns, and Functional Genes of Bacteria in Aged Coking Contaminated Soils by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Implications to Soil Health and Bioremediation
title_sort microbial diversity co occurrence patterns and functional genes of bacteria in aged coking contaminated soils by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons implications to soil health and bioremediation
topic PAHs
coking plant
microbial diversity
co-occurrence patterns
functional gene
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/4/869
work_keys_str_mv AT lipingzheng microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT yifanyan microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT qunli microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT junyangdu microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT xiaosonglu microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT lixu microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT qunhuixie microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT yangshengchen microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT aiguozhang microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation
AT binzhao microbialdiversitycooccurrencepatternsandfunctionalgenesofbacteriainagedcokingcontaminatedsoilsbypolycyclicaromatichydrocarbonsimplicationstosoilhealthandbioremediation