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Skariah S, Abdul-Majid S, Hay AG, Acharya A, Kano N, Al-Ishaq RK, de Figueiredo P, Han A, Guzman A, Dargham SR, Sameer S, Kim GE, Khan S, Pillai P, Sultan AA. Soil Properties Correlate with Microbial Community Structure in Qatari Arid Soils. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0346222. [PMID: 36847511 PMCID: PMC10100838 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03462-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 02/05/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023] Open
Abstract
This is the first detailed characterization of the microbiota and chemistry of different arid habitats from the State of Qatar. Analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that in aggregate, the dominant microbial phyla were Actinobacteria (32.3%), Proteobacteria (24.8%), Firmicutes (20.7%), Bacteroidetes (6.3%), and Chloroflexi (3.6%), though individual soils varied widely in the relative abundances of these and other phyla. Alpha diversity measured using feature richness (operational taxonomic units [OTUs]), Shannon's entropy, and Faith's phylogenetic diversity (PD) varied significantly between habitats (P = 0.016, P = 0.016, and P = 0.015, respectively). Sand, clay, and silt were significantly correlated with microbial diversity. Highly significant negative correlations were also seen at the class level between both classes Actinobacteria and Thermoleophilia (phylum Actinobacteria) and total sodium (R = -0.82 and P = 0.001 and R = -0.86, P = 0.000, respectively) and slowly available sodium (R = -0.81 and P = 0.001 and R = -0.8 and P = 0.002, respectively). Additionally, class Actinobacteria also showed significant negative correlation with sodium/calcium ratio (R = -0.81 and P = 0.001). More work is needed to understand if there is a causal relationship between these soil chemical parameters and the relative abundances of these bacteria. IMPORTANCE Soil microbes perform a multitude of essential biological functions, including organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and soil structure preservation. Qatar is one of the most hostile and fragile arid environments on earth and is expected to face a disproportionate impact of climate change in the coming years. Thus, it is critical to establish a baseline understanding of microbial community composition and to assess how soil edaphic factors correlate with microbial community composition in this region. Although some previous studies have quantified culturable microbes in specific Qatari habitats, this approach has serious limitations, as in environmental samples, approximately only 0.5% of cells are culturable. Hence, this method vastly underestimates natural diversity within these habitats. Our study is the first to systematically characterize the chemistry and total microbiota associated with different habitats present in the State of Qatar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sini Skariah
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Sara Abdul-Majid
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Anthony G. Hay
- Department of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Anushree Acharya
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Noora Kano
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Raghad Khalid Al-Ishaq
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Paul de Figueiredo
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Texas A&M University, Bryan, Texas, USA
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Arum Han
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA
| | - Adrian Guzman
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas, USA
| | - Soha Roger Dargham
- Biostatistics, Epidemiology, & Biomathematics Research Core, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Saad Sameer
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Gi Eun Kim
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Sabiha Khan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Priyamvada Pillai
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Ali A. Sultan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar, Cornell University, Qatar Foundation—Education City, Doha, Qatar
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Abdul-Majid S, Othman F. Neutron attenuation characteristics of polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and heavy aggregate concrete and mortars. Health Phys 1994; 66:327-338. [PMID: 8106253 DOI: 10.1097/00004032-199403000-00014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride pellets were introduced into concrete to improve its neutron attenuation characteristics while several types of heavy coarse aggregates were used to improve its gamma ray attenuation properties. Neutron and gamma ray attenuation were studied in concrete samples containing coarse aggregates of barite, pyrite, basalt, hematite, and marble as well as polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride pellets in narrow-beam geometry. The highest neutron attenuation was shown by polyethylene mortar, followed by polyvinyl chloride mortar; barite and pyrite concrete showed higher gamma ray attenuation than ordinary concrete. Broad-beam and continuous (infinite) medium geometries were used to study the neutron attenuation of samples containing polymers at different concentrations with and without heavy aggregates, the fitting equations were established, and from these the neutron removal coefficients were deduced. In a radiation field of neutrons and gamma rays, the appropriate concentration of polymer and heavy aggregate can be selected to give the optimum total dose attenuation depending on the relative intensities of each type of radiation. This would give much better design flexibility over ordinary concrete. The compressive strength tests performed on mortar and concrete samples showed that their value, in general, decreases as polymer concentration increases and that the polyvinyl chloride mortar showed higher values than the polyethylene mortar. For general construction purposes, the compression strength was considered acceptable in these samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Abdul-Majid
- Nuclear Engineering Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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