Bacterial communities as a diagnostic tool for watershed quality assessment

In order to use a new biological approach to study the impact of pollutants on the freshwater sediments, the analysis of microbial community structure can be considered a promising instrument to assess the quality and health of a water body. In Zhangye City (Gansu Province, China) we collected sediments samples of rhizosphere associated to Phragmites australis in sites affected by different type and level of pollution. ARISA and 454 pyrotag sequencing of the bacterial communities showed a varying pattern according to level, type and presence of the contaminants analyzed. We found that microbial communities can be effectively used as a diagnostic tool to map the watershed quality status.