Pilot-scale field reactors remediating acid mine drainage Metagenome

Acid mine drainage (AMD), a common environmental problem caused by mining activities, adversely impacts receiving watersheds, wildlife, and even public health due to its low pH and high concentration of toxic metals. Although passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage (AMD) have been extensively studied, little research has addressed the effect of changing environmental conditions on microbial communities associated with different substrate materials. In this study, 454 sequencing and qPCR were used to characterize the microbial communities in the three pilot-scale vertical flow ponds (VFPs) with different substrate combinations of crab shell (CS) and spent mushroom compost (SMC) for treating high risk AMD in central Pennsylvania. This study mainly investigated the establishment and adaptability of microbial communities and their relationship with AMD treatment efficiency in three of the pilot VFPs over the course of tests

酸性矿山排水（Acid mine drainage, AMD）是采矿活动引发的典型环境问题，因其pH值偏低且含有高浓度有毒金属，会对受纳流域、野生动物乃至公众健康造成不利影响。尽管针对酸性矿山排水的被动处理系统已得到广泛研究，但鲜有研究探讨环境条件变化对不同基质材料关联微生物群落的影响。本研究采用454测序技术与实时定量PCR（qPCR），对宾夕法尼亚州中部三座采用不同蟹壳（crab shell, CS）与废蘑菇堆肥（spent mushroom compost, SMC）基质组合的中试规模垂直流池塘（vertical flow ponds, VFPs）中处理高风险酸性矿山排水的微生物群落进行了表征分析。本研究主要探究了三座中试垂直流池塘在整个实验过程中微生物群落的定植与适应性，及其与酸性矿山排水处理效能之间的关联。