Response of ammonia oxidizing microbes to the stresses of arsenic and copper in two acidic alfisols

Abstract

Soil pollution by elevated heavy metals exhibits adverse effects on soil microorganisms. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria and ammonia oxidizing archaea perform ammonia oxidative processes in acidic soils. However, influence of heavy metal stress on soil ammonia oxidizers distribution and diversity is inadequately addressed. This study investigated the responses of ammonia oxidizing bacteria and archaea to heavy metals, Cu and As during short-term laboratory experiment. Two different acidic alfisols named as Rayka and Hangzhou spiked with different concentrations of As, Cu and As+Cu were incubated for 10 weeks. Significant reduction in copy numbers of archaeal-16S rRNA, bacterial-16S rRNA and funct..