Aqueous copper geochemistry shapes the sediment microbial resistome in a recovering stream

Abstract

Aqueous metals are pervasive contaminants associated with historical mining. We produced and examined 16 metagenomes from a contaminated creek to investigate how anthropogenic metal contamination shapes the functional profiles of microbial communities. We then incorporated the metagenomic profiles and concurrently collected geochemical context into a multivariate model to examine correlations between stream geochemistry and microbial functional potential. Integrating the metagenomes with full geochemical profiles emphasised that even low metalloid concentrations shaped microbial functionality, seasonal shifts in copper bioavailability and arsenic exposure correlated with genetic variation, and copper resistomes were spatiotemporally distinct. This study provides new insights into microbial metabolic potential and microbe-metal(loid) interactions.