Heavy metals are widely detected in natural environments, however their impacts on denitrifier community in freshwater ecosystem remain unclear. The present study investigated the changes of denitrifier communities (based on nosZ (nitrous oxide reductase) gene) in a freshwater reservoir contaminated by a severe accidental spill of heavy metals. The abundance of nosZ-denitrifiers drastically decreased, and their community richness, diversity and structure also showed considerable variations. The mainly detected denitrifying bacteria included Pseudogulbenkiania, Pseudomonas and two unknown groups. These major nosZ-denitrifier groups responded in different ways to heavy metal pollution. Metal contamination could exert a profound influence on denitrifier community in freshwater sediment. This work could provide some new insights to the impact of metal pollution on nitrogen cycling.

重金属在自然环境中被广泛检测，但是它们对淡水生态系统中反硝化菌群落的影响仍不清楚。本研究调查了由重金属意外泄漏污染的淡水水库中反硝化剂群落的变化（基于nosZ（一氧化二氮还原酶）基因）。丰nosZ -denitrifiers急剧下降，并且他们的社区的丰富性，多样性和结构也表现出相当大的差异。主要检测到的反硝化细菌包括假单胞菌，假单胞菌和两个未知群体。这些重大nosZ-脱硝剂组对重金属污染的反应不同。金属污染会对淡水沉积物中的反硝化菌群落产生深远的影响。这项工作可以为金属污染对氮循环的影响提供一些新的见解。