College of Science, University of Kufa discussed a Ph.D. thesis on effect of increased concentrations of heavy metals on the bacterial community in the Shatt Al-Kufa River by the postgraduate student, Mr. Karrar Abbas.

The thesis reviewed estimating the extent to which bacterial communities are affected by increased concentrations of heavy metals and to identify the most affected bacterial phyla using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, as well as studying changes in bacterial species resulting from these elements.

The thesis highlighted a clear significant effect of heavy metals on bacterial diversity, demonstrating that increased concentrations of some of these elements lead to significant changes in the biodiversity of the bacterial community.

The thesis recommended the need for expanded studies to investigate the effect of heavy metals on other organisms in river water, utilize NGS technology to more accurately diagnose these effects.