90-96Pit-scarred-landscape with huge heaps of
coal mine spoil is the usual scenario of an open cast coal mine area. To assess
the status of microbial ecosystem, genetic characterization among 18
metagenomes, sampled within six different age series coal mine spoil
overburdens, were analyzed using RAPD. Among studied populations, the genetic
diversity was high, having 66.21% polymorphic bands, and it showed Shannon’s information index value 0.3414. Analysis of molecular
variance (AMOVA) indicated that 90% of the genetic diversity among populations
was attributed to different age series overburdens, while 10% was attributed to
different habitats. The existence of genetic variation, as revealed by RAPD,
was coupled with bacterial colony forming units (CFUs; r =0.945), and 81.49%
variability in CFU can be explained due to genetic diversity (r = 0.902).
Further, the relationship between polymorphic loci and Nei’s genetic diversity
index (H) was observed to be significant (r =0.876), indicating gradual
enrichment in the existing genetic composition due to reclamation process with
the increase in age, and mine spoil gradually starts supporting greater genetic
diversity