Microbial Diversity in Caves

Tomczyk-Żak, Karolina; Zielenkiewicz, Urszula

doi:10.1080/01490451.2014.1003341

Cited by 97 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 111 publications

(211 reference statements)

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“…The Bacteroidetes represented 2.1% of the bacterial community in samples from pristine Niu Cave, China (Zhou, Gu, Zou, & Mo, ) versus as much as 5.5% in anthropized Maijishan Grottoes, China (Duan et al, ) and 8.1% in anthropized French/Swiss caves (Pfendler et al, ). For Nitrospirae phylum, the relative abundance was 8% in Niu Cave (and 14% in pristine Lechuguilla Cave [Tomczyk‐Żak & Zielenkiewicz, ]) versus less than 1% in Maijishan Grottoes and the French/Swiss caves. Thus, our results demonstrate that cave anthropization results in higher relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and lower abundance of Nitrospirae, a possibility raised in these previous studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropization level of Lascaux Cave microbiome shown by regional‐scale comparisons of pristine and anthropized caves

et al. 2019

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Limestone areas across the world develop karstic caves, which are populated by a wide range of macro‐ and microorganisms. Many of these caves display Paleolithic art or outstanding speleothems, and in the last century they have been subjected to anthropization due to touristic management and intense human frequentation. Despite their cultural importance and associated conservation issues, the impact of anthropization on cave biodiversity is not known. Here, we show that anthropization is associated with specific cave biota modifications. We compared diversity in four pristine caves, four anthropized show caves, and the iconic Lascaux Cave with even stronger anthropization. The predominant microbial higher taxa were the same in all caves, but the most anthropized cave (Lascaux) was unique as it differed from the eight others by a higher proportion of Bacteroidetes bacteria and the absence of Euryarchaeota and Woesearchaeota archaea. Anthropization resulted in lower diversity and altered community structure for bacteria and archaea on cave walls, especially in Lascaux, but with a more limited effect on microeukaryotes and arthropods. Our findings fill a key gap in our understanding of the response of karstic communities to anthropization, by revealing that tourism‐related anthropization impacts on the prokaryotic microbiome rather than on eukaryotic residents, and that it shapes cave biota irrespective of cave natural features.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropization level of Lascaux Cave microbiome shown by regional‐scale comparisons of pristine and anthropized caves

et al. 2019

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“…). Some of these cave microbes are capable of precipitating CaCO 3 on the surfaces of their cells which have helped in shaping cave structures such as stalactites, stalagmites and bristles (Tomczyk‐Żak and Zielenkiewicz ). There are very limited studies on the exploitation of ureolytic micro‐organisms from cave regions (Omoregie et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, caves are natural geological formations which are known to be an extreme environment unfavourable for microbial development due to severe abiotic conditions present, thus only allowing the survival of microbial species that are adapted to the availability of low-level nutrients (Wu et al 2015). Some of these cave microbes are capable of precipitating CaCO 3 on the surfaces of their cells which have helped in shaping cave structures such as stalactites, stalagmites and bristles (Tomczyk-_ Zak and Zielenkiewicz 2016). There are very limited studies on the exploitation of ureolytic micro-organisms from cave regions (Omoregie et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing ureolytic bacteria with calcifying abilities isolated from limestone caves for biocalcification

Omoregie

Ong

Nissom

2018

Lett Appl Microbiol

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Biocalcification through the use of ureolytic bacteria and biochemical activities has evolved in recent decades into a fervent resourceful effective technology suitable for soil stabilization, crack repair and bioremediation. Extensive studies have been carried out on numerous ureolytic bacterial species isolated from soils and sewage samples. However, very limited attention has been given to limestone caves with natural calcite formations as a possible source for isolation of ureolytic bacteria. In this study, bacterial isolates were recovered from limestone cave samples to determine their suitability for biocalcification. Twenty‐seven morphologically distinct bacterial isolates were identified by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and their various genetic diversity was characterized according to their phylogenetic affiliations. Based on the molecular identification, Sporosarcina was the most abundant genus among all the ureolytic isolates, while the rest belonged to Pseudogracilibacillus and Bacillus genera. Analytical analysis on urease measurement showed that urease activities for the isolates ranged from 1·130 to 21·513 mol urea hydrolysed per minute, with isolate NB33 achieving the highest value and TSB4 achieving the lowest value. The estimated CaCO3 precipitates for the isolates ranged from 4·04 to 17·26 mg ml−1, with isolate NB30 achieving the highest value and TSB20 achieving the lowest value. The findings in this study demonstrated that the ureolytic bacteria from limestone caves are promising bio‐calcifying agents. Significance and Impact of the Study Ureolytic bacteria continues to play an important role as microbial tools used in geotechnical engineering for soil biocalcification. Microbial strains with the ability to produce urease enzyme and induce calcium carbonate mineral are often isolated from soil, water and sludge samples. However, screening for these essential microbes from extreme regions such as caves are rarely investigated. In this study, native bacteria which were isolated from limestone cave samples are identified and characterized. The findings suggested that these ureolytic bacterial isolates have the potential to serve as suitable alternative microbial agents for soil strengthening and stabilization.

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“…During the breakdown of carbonate rocks, microbial colonies build up on rock surfaces, resulting in rock decomposition by acidification and moisturization onto the surfaces (Wu et al, 2017;Hutchens, 2009;Uroz et al, 2009). The obtainment of nutrients from the rock surface further promotes the release of organic ligands, which in turn facilitate the release of mineral elements, thus creating a positive feedback loop (Lian et al, 2008;Uroz et al, 2007). Many studies have documented that the mineral dissolution of rocks in a flow-through system was higher in the presence of microorganisms, whereas the dissolution was enhanced in the groups of surface-attached microorganisms, especially when compared with the unattached ones (Ahmed and Holmström, 2015;Seiffert et al, 2014;Jacobson and Wu, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The identified urease-producing bacteria have been investigated extensively (Anbu et al, 2016;Wei et al, 2015;Ercole et al, 2001;Jones, 2017;Animesh and Ramkrishnan, 2016;Abo-El-Enein et al, 2012). The microbial communities of karst habitats are diverse, and their components largely depend on the locations and composition of limestone (Barton and Northup, 2007;Ortiz et al, 2014;Tomczyk-Żak and Zielenkiewicz, 2015;Engel, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Microbial Communities in the Weathering and Stalactite Formation in Karst Topography

Huang

Hsu

Fan

et al. 2019

Preprint

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<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> This study investigated the long-term effect of environmental physical factors on the relative abundance of bacteria and the consequential landscape evolution in karst topography, focusing mainly on the effects of limestone weathering and calcite precipitation. The Narrow-Sky located in the upper part of Takangshan is a small gulch of Pleistocene coralline limestone formation in southern Taiwan. The landscapes were different in the karst walls between the opening and the inner of gulch due to the variation of physical parameters such as sunlight penetration, humidity, and temperature. A metagenomic approach was used out to determine the relationship of microbial community structures on the landscapes in various habitats around the gulch, namely on the inner and outer limestone wall, the water collected from speleothems surface, and the ground soil at the outer wall. The total organic carbon content was measured in solid samples to evaluate the biomass of the habitats. Our results showed that the biomass of habitats in the opening of the gulch was two times higher than the that inside where light penetration was lower. We also found that speleothems only occurred at the inner wall inside the gulch, where the environment exhibited water drips running through the surface of speleothems and less light penetration. The metagenomics in each habitat was surveyed to measure the sequence similarity of operational taxonomic units relative to urease-producing bacteria and weathering-associated bacteria available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database. Our data revealed that the metagenomics of the inner wall and water samples exhibited more sequences that were similar to those of urease-producing bacteria, whereas the outer wall showed more sequences that were similar to those of weathering-associated bacteria, suggesting that bacteria facilitated the formation of limestone weathering and calcite precipitation for various habitats. This study revealed the pivotal roles of microorganisms in governing the geological evolution of the limestone landscape.</p>

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Microbial Diversity in Caves

Cited by 97 publications

References 111 publications

Anthropization level of Lascaux Cave microbiome shown by regional‐scale comparisons of pristine and anthropized caves

Anthropization level of Lascaux Cave microbiome shown by regional‐scale comparisons of pristine and anthropized caves

Assessing ureolytic bacteria with calcifying abilities isolated from limestone caves for biocalcification

Role of Microbial Communities in the Weathering and Stalactite Formation in Karst Topography

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