The genetic diversity of soil bacteria affected by phytoremediation in a typical barren rare earth mined site of South China

The soil bacterial diversity is one of the most important indicators to evaluate the effect of phytoremediation. In this study, the technologies of Sequence-Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis were used to evaluate the soil bacterial diversity after phytoremediation in a barren rare earth mined area. The results showed that the plant density was remarkably increased after the phytoremediation. The SRAP analysis suggested that the soil bacterial diversity declined dramatically after mining, while increased significantly in second and third year of the phytoremediation. A total of eight bacterial genera were identified by using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, with Arthrobacter and Bacillus as the dominant species before the mining, and Brevibacillus as the dominant species after the mining and during the first year of the phytoremediation. The Bacillus, which was a dominant type of bacteria before the mining, disappeared after mining and appeared again in the second and third years of the phytoremediation, other bacterial genera present. Principal component analysis and 16S rRNA gene analysis revealed a new bacterial type after phytoremediation that was not existed in the original mined area. The results of the present study indicated that the soil bacterial richness and genetic diversity significantly increased after the phytoremediation in the mined site.