Assessing the shaping factors for archaeal and bacterial communities in tidal wetland soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The environment and biome of coastal ecosystems are challenged by diverse human disturbances including soil pollution. Both archaea and bacteria are the main players in the biogeochemical cycling of coastal ecosystems, but their interactions with soil factors are far from being elucidated. In the tidal flats of Hangzhou Bay China, 16 soil physiochemical properties were discerned, including the major organic pollutants of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Soil salinity, dissolved organic carbon, and PAHs varied between tidal soils and exhibited differential impacts on microbial commu-nities. Particularly, soil salinity interacted with the beta diversity of both bacterial and archaeal communities. In comparison, soil dissolved organic carbon exhibited immense impacts on bacterial alpha diversity, beta diversity, and individual taxa but not on archaeal ones. Moreover, soil PAHs exhibited an average concentration of 463.21 mu g/kg in the tidal soils and were significantly correlated with bacterial alpha diversity and two bacterial genera of Algoriphagus and Candidatus Pelagibacter Additionally, archaeal and bacterial communities exhibited a strong correlation, suggesting a role of inter-kingdom interactions in shaping the microbiomes in tidal soils. Overall, our results indicated the differential impacts of soil factors on archaeal and bacterial communities. In the context of increasing human disturbance in coastal ecosystems, our findings are valuable for comprehending the determinants that influence microbial community assembly. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The environment and biome of coastal ecosystems face challenges posed by various human disturbances, including soil pollution. This study investigated the interactions between archaea and bacteria in coastal ecosystems, particularly in the tidal flats of Hangzhou Bay China, and their relationship with soil factors such as salinity, dissolved organic carbon, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The results showed that soil salinity interacted with the diversity of both bacterial and archaeal communities, while dissolved organic carbon had a significant impact on bacterial diversity and taxa. Furthermore, soil PAHs were correlated with bacterial diversity and specific bacterial genera, and there was a strong correlation between archaeal and bacterial communities.