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Soil microbiome in Technosol on gypsum-containing chemical production waste

The soil microbiome plays an important role in the processes of soil formation and functioning of the soil. The role of the microbiome is especially significant at the initial stages of soil formation in man-made landscapes on uncharacteristic rocks, such as gypsum-containing waste (GCW) from chemical production. The aim of the study was to evaluate the structure and composition of the algoflora and the prokaryotic component of the microbial community in young soil formed during self-healing of the GCW landfill of a chemical enterprise. The object of the study was an embryozem formed in the southern taiga subzone of the European Northeast in a self-growing open GCW storage facility for more than 20 years, with soil on aluminosilicate rock – floodplain alluvium under a grass meadow adjacent to the waste storage area as a conditional background.

16 species of microphototrophs were detected in the soil of the background site by direct microscopy of soil, fouling glasses and cup cultures, and 19 species of microphototrophs were detected in the embryozem. The species diversity is represented by cyanobacteria, green and diatoms. Representatives of 12 bacterial and 1 archaeal phylum were identified in the prokaryotic component of the embryozem community (based on the diversity of 16S rRNA gene sequences). The phylum – level dominants in the embryozem and background soil communities were the same: Proteobacteria (on average 28.6%) and Actinobacteria (17.4%). Verrucomicrobia, Acidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes accounted for an average of 3–6% of the total number of taxa. The microbiome of the embryo differed from the mature soil of the background site by the presence of minor representatives of Chloroflexi (1%), Cyanobacteria (0.3–0.4%) and Firmicutes (0.1%). Studying the composition and structure of the soil microbiome at the first stages of pedogenesis provided valuable information for understanding the factors contributing to soil formation, as well as for optimizing reclamation methods.