Metal-tolerant fungal communities are delineated by high zinc, lead, and copper concentrations in metalliferous Gobi Desert Soils

Kerfah, D., Ogwu, M. C., Dagvatseren, D., Balt, A., Davaasuren, D., Enkhmandal, O., Purevsuren, T., Batbaatar, A., Tibbett, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0143-2190, Undrakhbold, S., Boldgiv, B. and Adams, J. M. (2020) Metal-tolerant fungal communities are delineated by high zinc, lead, and copper concentrations in metalliferous Gobi Desert Soils. Microbial Ecology, 79. pp. 420-431. ISSN 1432-184X doi: 10.1007/s00248-019-01405-8

Abstract/Summary

The soil fungal ecology of the southern Gobi region of Mongolia has been little studied. We utilized the ITS1 region from soil DNA to study possible influences soil metal concentrations on soil fungal community variation. In the sample network, a distinctive fungal community was closely associated with high zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and copper (Cu) concentrations. The pattern of occurrence suggests that high metal concentrations are natural and not a product of mining activities. The metal-associated fungal community differs little from the “normal” community in its major OTUs, and in terms of major fungal guilds and taxa, and its distinctiveness depends on a combination of many less common OTUs. The fungal community in the sites with high metal concentrations is no less diverse than that in areas with normal background levels. Overall, these findings raise interesting questions of the evolutionary origin and functional characteristics of this apparently “metal-tolerant” community, and of the associated soil biota in general. It is possible that rehabilitation of metal-contaminated mined soils from spoil heaps could benefit from the incorporation of fungi derived from these areas.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/84864
Identification Number/DOI	10.1007/s00248-019-01405-8
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Soil Research Centre Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Sustainable Land Management > Centre for Agri-environmental Research (CAER)
Publisher	Springer
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