Diversity, composition, and assembly processes of bacterial communities within per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-contained urban lake sediments

Hongjie Zhang; Jian Shui; Chaoran Li; Jie Ma; Fei He; Dayong Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177625

Diversity, composition, and assembly processes of bacterial communities within per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-contained urban lake sediments

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 18:177625. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177625. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Hongjie Zhang¹, Jian Shui¹, Chaoran Li², Jie Ma³, Fei He⁴, Dayong Zhao⁵

Affiliations

¹ Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Environment Sciences, Nanjing 210042, China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Global Change and Water Cycle, The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
² College of Marine Science and Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China.
³ Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Environment Sciences, Nanjing 210042, China.
⁴ Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Environment Sciences, Nanjing 210042, China; Joint International Research Laboratory of Global Change and Water Cycle, The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China. Electronic address: hefei@nies.org.
⁵ Joint International Research Laboratory of Global Change and Water Cycle, The National Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.

PMID: 39566639
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177625

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread, highly persistent, and bio-accumulative compounds that are increasingly found in the sediments of aquatic systems. Given this accumulation and concerns regarding the environmental impacts of PFAS, their influence on sedimentary bacterial communities remains inadequately studied. Here, we investigated the concentrations of 17 PFAS in sediments from six urban lakes in Nanjing, China, and assessed their effects on the diversity, composition, potential interactions, and assembly mechanisms of sedimentary bacterial communities. Sediment concentrations of PFAS ranged from 4.70 to 5.28 ng·g^-1 dry weight. The high concentrations of the short-chain perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) suggested its substitution for the long-chain perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). As alternatives to long-chain PFAS, short-chain PFAS had similar effects on bacterial communities. The short-chain perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA) and the long-chain perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) were the most important PFAS related to the ecological patterns of the co-occurrence network and may alter the composition of the sedimentary bacterial communities in the urban lakes. The Anaerolineaceae family represented as keystone bacteria within the PFAS-affected bacterial co-occurrence network. Deterministic processes (65.9 %), particularly homogeneous selection (63.2 %), were the dominant process driving bacterial community assembly. PFAS promoted the phylogenetic clustering and influenced the community dispersal capabilities to shape bacterial community assembly. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of PFAS distribution in sediments across six urban lakes in Nanjing and provides novel insights into the effects of PFAS on sedimentary bacterial communities. Further research is required to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the impacts of PFAS on microbial communities and to evaluate their broader ecological consequences.

Keywords: Bacterial community; Co-occurrence network; Community assembly; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; Urban lakes.