TABLE 1.
Cell numbers of five selected samples from each mine tailing dump located in Botswana, Sweden, and Germany determined by different quantification methodsa
| Organism type | Method | Cell no. (log n/g dry wt) for location, zone, and depth (m) |
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana (oxidized zone) |
Kristineberg, Sweden |
Freiberg, Germany (oxidation zone) |
||||||||||||||
| Oxidized zone |
Unoxidized zone (2.65 m) | |||||||||||||||
| 6.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 11.5 | 17.5 | 2.15 | 2.24 | 2.3 | 2.39 | 0.63 | 0.64 | 0.65 | 0.68 | 0.77 | |||
| Total | Sybr green | 7.6 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 8.7 | 8.2 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.5 | 6.5 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 9.6 | 8.3 |
| Bacteria | Q-PCR | 7.1 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 7.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.9 |
| CARD-FISH | 6.9 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 6.5 | 7.7 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 6.0 | 7.9 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.2 | |
| FISH | 5.8 | 6.4 | ND | 6.3 | 5.1 | ND | 6.3 | ND | ND | ND | 8.1 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 8.6 | 8.4 | |
| Archaea | Q-PCR | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | 5.9 | 5.4 | 6.8 | 7.9 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Fe(II) oxidizers | MPN | 5.5 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 6.8 | ND | 8.8 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 8.8 | 8.8 |
| S oxidizers | MPN | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | 6.8 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 7.8 | 7.8 |
| Acidithiobacillus spp. | Q-PCR | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 3.7 | ND | 5.8 | 3.8 | 5.7 | 6.5 | ND | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 7.4 |
| FISH | ND | 5.8 | ND | 5.8 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | 8.0 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 7.7 | |
| A. ferrooxidans | FISH | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | 7.7 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 7.4 |
| A. caldus | Q-PCR | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | 4.2 | 3.6 | ND | 3.3 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Leptospirillum spp. | Q-PCR | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | 5.1 | 4.3 | 6.3 | 6.7 | ND | 5.8 | 4.5 | 5.4 | ND | 4.4 |
| L. ferrooxidans | FISH | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | 5.9 | ND | 5.8 | ND | ND |
| Sulfobacillus spp. | Q-PCR | ND | ND | 4.6 | ND | ND | 4.2 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 4.9 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Acidiphilium spp. | FISH | ND | 5.3 | ND | 5.6 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Geobacteraceae | Q-PCR | ND | 4.1 | ND | 5.1 | 4.1 | 5.0 | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Sulfate reducers (dsr) | Q-PCR | ND | 5.7 | 6.0 | ND | ND | 6.6 | 5.6 | ND | 6.1 | 4.2 | ND | ND | 6.1 | 5.1 | ND |
a
Cell numbers were below detection limits for FISH and CARD-FISH for Archaea, FISH for Acidimicrobium and relatives, FISH for gram-positive Bacteria with low G+C contents, and FISH for Sulfobacillus spp. in the investigated samples of all three sites. Conversion factors for calculating cell numbers from DNA copy numbers and detection limits of the methods are given in Materials and Methods. NM, not measured; ND, not detected.