Multiple profiling of soil microbial communities identifies potential genetic markers of metal-enriched sewage sludge

The long-term impacts of Cu- and Zn-rich sewage sludge additions on the structure of the microbial community in a field under pasture were investigated using a combination of multiplex-terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (M-TRFLP) and T-RFLP profiling approaches. Changes in the community structure of bacteria, fungi, archaea and actinobacteria were observed in soils that had previously received Cu- (50–200 mg kg−1 soil) and Zn- (150–450 mg kg−1 soil) rich sewage sludge additions. Changes in the structure of all microbial groups measured were observed at Cu and Zn rates below the current EU guidelines (135 mg kg−1 Cu and 300 mg kg−1 Zn). The response of the fungal community, and to a lesser extent the bacterial and archaeal community, to Cu was dose dependent. The fungal community also showed a dose-dependent response to Zn, which was not observed in the other microbial groups assessed. Redundancy analysis demonstrated that individual terminal restriction fragments responded to both Cu and Zn and these may have potential as genetic markers of long-term metal effects in soil.