The microbial communities in mining impacted areas rely on a variety of mechanisms to survive in such extreme environments. In this work, a meta-taxonomic approach using 16S rRNA gene sequences was used to investigate the prokaryotic diversity of sediment samples from water bodies affected by acid mine drainage at the São Domingos mining area in the south of Portugal. Samples were collected in summer and winter from the most contaminated sites from where the water flows downstream to the freshwater of Chança’s river reservoir. The prokaryotic diversity on water bodies’ sediments allowed us to distinguish the highly contaminated sites (pH ≈ 2) from sites with intermediate levels of contamination (pH ≈ 3–6.5), and from sites without contamination (pH ≈ 7.5). The abundances of acidophiles of genera Acidiphilium, Acidibacter, Acidobacterium and Acidocella in the sediments were correlated with the level of acid mine drainage contamination. The two first genera were among the 30 most abundant prokaryotes in all contaminated samples, including one (SS2w), where the contamination was very diluted, thereby emphasizing the impact that such type of pollution can have in the microbial communities of sediments. In addition, the high abundances of archaeal taxa from class Thermoplasmata and of bacteria from family RCP1-48 in the sediments from the most contaminated site corroborate their importance in such ecosystems and a putative role in the generation of acid mine drainage.

采矿受影响地区的微生物群落依靠各种机制在这种极端环境中生存。在这项工作中，使用基于16S rRNA基因序列的元分类学方法研究了葡萄牙南部圣多明各斯矿区受酸性矿山排水影响的水体中沉积物样品的原核生物多样性。在夏季和冬季，从污染最严重的地点收集样品，这些地方的水从下游流向Chança河水库的淡水。水体沉积物上的原核生物多样性使我们能够将高度污染的站点（pH≈2）与中等污染水平（pH≈3-6.5）和无污染的站点（pH 7.5）区分开来。属嗜酸菌的丰度沉积物中的嗜酸性菌，酸性杆菌，酸性杆菌和嗜酸菌与酸性矿山排水污染水平相关。这两个第一属是所有受污染样品中30个最丰富的原核生物之一，其中一个（SS2w）的污染物被非常稀释，从而强调了这种类型的污染对沉积物微生物群落的影响。此外，在最受污染的地点的沉积物中，来自Thermoplasmata类的古细菌类群和来自RCP1-48族的细菌丰富，这证实了它们在此类生态系统中的重要性以及在酸性矿​​山排水中的假定作用。