Journal of Environmental Biology

Phospholipids fatty acids of drinking water reservoir sedimentary microbial community: Structure and function responses to hydrostatic pressure and other physico-chemical properties

Bei-bei Chai^1,2*, Ting-lin Huang^3,4, Xiao-guang Zhao² and Ya-jiao Li¹

¹School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Xi'an University of Science & Technology, Xi'an-710 054, China

²Geological resources and geological engineering postdoctoral research station, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an-710 054, China

³School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology, Xi'an-710 055, China

⁴Key Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, Xi'an-710 055, China.

^*Corresponding Author?s Email : chaibeibei@xust.edu.cn

Publication Data

Paper received:

29 June 2014

Revised received:

30 September 2014

Re-revised received:

01 January 2015

Accepted:

07 February 2015

Abstract

Microbial communities in three drinking water reservoirs, with different depth in Xi'an city, were quantified by phospholipids fatty acids analysis and multivariate statistical analysis was employed to interpret their response to different hydrostatic pressure and other physico-chemical properties of sediment and overlying water. Principle component analyses of sediment characteristics parameters showed that hydrostatic pressure was the most important effect factor to differentiate the overlying water quality from three drinking water reservoirs from each other. NH4+ content in overlying water was positive by related to hydrostatic pressure, while DO in water-sediment interface and sediment OC in sediment were negative by related with it. Three drinking water reservoir sediments were characterized by microbial communities dominated by common and facultative anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria, as well as, by sulfur oxidizing bacteria. Hydrostatic pressure and physico-chemical properties of sediments (such as sediment OC, sediment TN and sediment TP) were important effect factors to microbial community structure, especially hydrostatic pressure. It is also suggested that high hydrostatic pressure and low dissolved oxygen concentration stimulated Gram-positive and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) bacterial population in drinking water reservoir sediment. This research supplied a successful application of phospholipids fatty acids and multivariate analysis to investigate microbial community composition response to different environmental factors. Thus, few physico-chemical factors can be used to estimate composition microbial of community as reflected by phospholipids fatty acids, which is difficult to detect.     

 Key words

Drinking water reservoir, Hydrostatic pressure, Microbial community structure, Multivariate analysis 

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