Large Differences in Bacterial Community Composition among Three Nearby Extreme Waterbodies of the High Andean Plateau

Abstract

The high Andean plateau or Altiplano contains different waterbodies that are subjected to extreme fluctuations in abiotic conditions on a daily and an annual scale. The bacterial diversity and community composition of those shallow waterbodies is largely unexplored, particularly, of the ponds embedded within the peatland landscape (i.e., Bofedales). Here we compare the small-scale spatial variability (<1 m) in bacterial diversity and community composition between two of those ponds with contrasting apparent color, using 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Further, we compared the results with the nearest (80 m) main lagoon in the system to elucidate the importance of different environmental factors such as salinity and the importance of these ponds as a source of shared diversity. Bacterial diversity was higher in both ponds than in the lagoon and community composition was largely different among them and characterized by very low operational taxonomic unit sharing. Whereas the “green” pond with relatively low dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration (33.5 mg L-1) was dominated by Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, the one with extreme DOC concentration (424.1 mg L-1) and red hue was dominated by Cyanobacteria. By contrast, the lagoon was largely dominated by Proteobacteria, particularly by Gammaproteobacteria. A large percentage (47%) of all reads was unclassified suggesting the existence of large undiscovered bacterial diversity. Our results suggest that even at the very small-scale spatial range considered, local environmental factors are important in explaining differences in bacterial community composition in those systems. Further, our study highlights that Altiplano peatland ponds represent a hitherto unknown source of microbial diversity.

Active microbiome structure and its association with environmental factors and viruses at different aquatic sites of a high‐altitude wetland

“…A potential explanation of the active microbial phyla variability was associated with environmental conditions, such as conductivity and nutrients, suggesting a potential bottom‐up control of microbial community structure particularly at the ponds (Figure a,b). Dissolved organic matter was found to be significant at pond sites in a previous study carried out at site H3 ponds (Aguilar et al., ). In addition, salinity is a stress factor associated with the microbial community metabolism (Oren, ).…”

“…These latter water presents a chemical composition that consists in sulfate, chloride, calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium in different proportions than seawater (Risacher et al., ). The diverse and heterogeneous aquatic environments (springs, several ponds, and a main lagoon) of the wetland also present variable biogeochemical conditions including nutrients and dissolved organic matter (Aguilar, Acosta, Dorador, & Sommaruga, ; Dorador et al., ; Hernández et al., ). In total, the environmental high‐altitude wetland conditions were consider as drivers of diversification, generating ecological niches for plankton, benthos, microbial mats, and microbialites (Albarracín et al., ), which represent a higher degree of microbial complexity.…”

“…In total, the environmental high‐altitude wetland conditions were consider as drivers of diversification, generating ecological niches for plankton, benthos, microbial mats, and microbialites (Albarracín et al., ), which represent a higher degree of microbial complexity. Former results show high microbial diversity, which in terms of bacterioplankton are dominated by the phylum Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Crenarchaeota, Actinobacteria, among others (e.g., Aguilar et al., ; Dorador et al., ). Archaea and Cyanobacteria are also important members of the microbial community in Salar de Huasco, with representatives such as Methanobacteria and Oscillatoriales, Chroococcales, and Nostocales, respectively (Dorador, Vila, Remonsellez, Imhoff, & Witzel, ; Dorador et al., ).…”

Geothermal Diatoms: Seasonal Variability in the El Tatio Geothermal Field (Altiplano, Chile)

“…Seasonal change of the most representative genera (>1% total abundance per sample) and size fractions variability. microorganisms are adapted for life there, this result in many of them are unique or rare [35] [39] [40]. Water bodies in different geographic regions often show considerable variability with regard to their diatom richness/composition patterns.…”

Microbial community composition in alpine lake sediments from the Hengduan Mountains

“…We performed a heatmap analysis using drawing tools on the BMKCloud platform (http://www.biocloud.net). Rarefaction curves, hierarchical clustering analysis, and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) were performed using Past3 software (Version 3.22) (Aguilar, Acosta, Dorador, & Sommaruga, ). The relationship between microbial communities and individual environmental factors was analyzed by a correlation test using redundancy analysis (RDA; Canoco 5).…”