Diversity of Bacteroidetes in high-altitude saline evaporitic basins in northern Chile

Dorador, C.; Meneses, D; Urtuvia, V; Demergasso, C; Vila, I.; Witzel, KP; Imhoff, JF

Abstract

The phylum Bacteroidetes represents one of the most abundant bacterial groups of marine and freshwater bacterioplankton. We investigated the diversity of Bacteroidetes in water and sediment samples from three evaporitic basins located in the highlands of northern Chile. We used both 16S rRNA gene clone libraries created with targeted Bacteroidetes-specific primers and separation of specifically amplified gene fragments by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). DGGE analysis revealed a reduced richness of these organisms in samples from Salar de Huasco (two to four DGGE bands) increasing in Salar de Ascotán (two to seven DGGE bands) and Laguna Tebenquiche at Salar de Atacama (four to eight DGGE bands). Cluster analysis (WPGMA) of DGGE bands showed that bands from Salar de Huasco and Salar de Ascotán grouped together and samples from Salar de Atacama formed separate clusters in water and sediment samples, reflecting different Bacteroidetes communities between sites. Most of the sequences analyzed belonged to the family Flavobacteriaceae and clustered with the genera Psychroflexus, Gillisia, Maribacter, Muricauda, Flavobacterium, and Salegentibacter. The most abundant phylotype was highly related to Psychroflexus spp. and was recovered from all three study sites. The similarity of the analyzed sequences with their closest relatives in GenBank was typically <97% and notably lower when compared with type strains, demonstrating the unique character of these sequences. Culture efforts will be necessary to get a better description of the diversity of this group in saline evaporitic basins of northern Chile. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Más información

Título según WOS: Diversity of Bacteroidetes in high-altitude saline evaporitic basins in northern Chile
Título según SCOPUS: Diversity of bacteroidetes in high-altitude saline evaporitic basins in northern Chile
Título de la Revista: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volumen: 114
Número: 3
Editorial: AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
Fecha de publicación: 2009
Idioma: English
URL: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/2008JG000837
DOI:

10.1029/2008JG000837

Notas: ISI, SCOPUS