?Distribution of microbial abundance in long-term copper contaminated soils from Topolnitsa-Pirdop valley, Southern Bulgaria

This study presents the distribution of bacterial and fungal abundances in long-term copper (Cu) contaminated soils Topolnitsa-Pirdop valley – a highly industrialized zone with number mines processing plants for other non-ferrous metals. The (16S rRNA gene copies) (ITS were estimated using quantitative PCR technique five topsoils, differently Cu (ranging from 28.05 to 198.9 mg kg -1 ). Bacterial abundance varied range 1.68 × 10 11 3.24 16S genes, whereas fungi amounted 1.95 8 6.71 ITS genes. Fungal significantly (fungi) insignificantly (bacteria) influenced by contamination. fungal/bacterial ratio related negatively soil Cu, which shifted microbial communities’ structure towards dominance. Since between bacteria are vital explaining many functions, calculated changes this indicated deterioration quality, being primary importance plant production.