Response of microbial taxonomic and nitrogen functional attributes to elevated nitrate in suburban groundwater

Ling-Zhi Zhang; Wei He; Fu-Yi Huang; Wei He; Pengpeng Zhou; Cuibai Chen; Christopher Rensing; Kristian Koefoed Brandt; Jiangtao He; Fei Liu; Yi Zhao; Huaming Guo

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162524

Response of microbial taxonomic and nitrogen functional attributes to elevated nitrate in suburban groundwater

Sci Total Environ. 2023 May 20:874:162524. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162524. Epub 2023 Mar 1.

Authors

Ling-Zhi Zhang¹, Wei He², Fu-Yi Huang³, Wei He¹, Pengpeng Zhou¹, Cuibai Chen¹, Christopher Rensing⁴, Kristian Koefoed Brandt⁵, Jiangtao He¹, Fei Liu¹, Yi Zhao⁶, Huaming Guo⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Water Resources and Environment & Key Laboratory of Groundwater Conservation of MWR, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China.
² Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Eco-Environmental Protection, Beijing 100037, China.
³ Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.
⁴ College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
⁵ Department of Plant and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg 1871, Denmark; Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Beijing, China.
⁶ School of Water Resources and Environment & Key Laboratory of Groundwater Conservation of MWR, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: y.zhao@cugb.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Water Resources and Environment & Key Laboratory of Groundwater Conservation of MWR, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: hmguo@cugb.edu.cn.

PMID: 36868285
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162524

Abstract

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) input has led to elevated levels of nitrate nitrogen (NO₃^--N) in the groundwater. However, insights into the responses of the microbial community and its N metabolic functionality to elevated NO₃^--N in suburban groundwater are still limited. Here, we explored the microbial taxonomy, N metabolic attributes, and their responses to NO₃^--N pollution in groundwaters from Chaobai River catchment (CR) and Huai River catchment (HR) in Beijing, China. Results showed that average NO₃^--N and NH₄⁺-N concentrations in CR groundwater were 1.7 and 3.0 folds of those in HR. NO₃^--N was the dominant nitrogen specie both in HR and CR groundwater (over 80 %). Significantly different structures and compositions of the microbial communities and N cycling gene profiles were found between CR groundwater and HR groundwater (p < 0.05), with CR groundwater harboring significantly lower microbial richness and abundance of N metabolic genes. However, denitrification was the dominant microbial N cycling process in both CR and HR groundwater. Strong associations among NO₃^--N, NH₄⁺-N, microbial taxonomic, and N functional attributes were found (p < 0.05), suggesting denitrifiers and Candidatus_Brocadia might serve as potential featured biomarkers for the elevated NO₃^--N and NH₄⁺-N concentration in groundwater. Path analysis further revealed the significant effect of NO₃^--N on the overall microbial N functionality and microbial denitrification (p < 0.05). Collectively, our results provide field evidence that elevated levels of NO₃^--N and NH₄⁺-N under different hydrogeologic conditions had a significant effect on the microbial taxonomic and N functional attributes in groundwater, with potential implications for improving sustainable N management and risk assessment of groundwater.

Keywords: Ammonium; Denitrification; Groundwater; Microbial nitrogen cycling; Nitrate.

MeSH terms

China
Denitrification
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Groundwater* / chemistry
Nitrates / analysis
Nitrogen / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Nitrogen
Nitrates
Water Pollutants, Chemical