Natural bacterial communities serve as quantitative geochemical biosensors.
Mark B SmithAndrea M RochaChris S SmillieScott W OlesenCharles ParadisLiyou WuJames H CampbellJulian L FortneyTonia L MehlhornKenneth A LoweJennifer E EarlesJana PhillipsStephen M TechtmannDominique C JoynerDwayne A EliasKathryn L BaileyRichard A HurtSarah P PreheimMatthew C SandersJoy YangMarcella A MuellerScott BrooksDavid B WatsonPing ZhangZhili HeEric A DubinskyPaul D AdamsAdam P ArkinMatthew W FieldsJizhong ZhouEric J AlmTerry C HazenPublished in: mBio (2015)
Here we show that DNA from natural bacterial communities can be used as a quantitative biosensor to accurately distinguish unpolluted sites from those contaminated with uranium, nitrate, or oil. These results indicate that bacterial communities can be used as environmental sensors that respond to and capture perturbations caused by human impacts.