The structural changes of microorganisms in soil are the focus of soil indicators research. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in the composition of the soil bacterial community in heavy metal-contaminated soil. A total of six soil samples (two sampling times) were collected from contaminated farmland at three different depths (surface, middle, and deep layer). The pH value was measured. The concentrations of heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb) and the soil bacterial community were analyzed using ICP-OES and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results of the two samplings showed that the pH value in the deep layer decreased from 6.88 to 6.23, and the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb, with a smaller ion radius, increased by 16-28%, and Shannon, Chao1 increased by ~13%. The bacteria community composition at the three depths changed, but Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the dominant phyla. In the copper and zinc tolerance test, the isolated bacterium that was able to tolerate copper and zinc was Bacillus sp. We found that, the longer the heavy metal pollution was of concern, the higher the tolerance. These results can be used as references for the microbial remediation of heavy metal-contaminated farmland.
Keywords: bacterial community; heavy metals; soil bacteria.