Prokaryotic diversity of a Tunisian multipond solar saltern

Baati, Houda; Guermazi, Sonda; Amdouni, Ridha; Gharsallah, Néji; Sghir, Abdelghani; Ammar, Emna

doi:10.1007/s00792-008-0154-x

Cited by 90 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The unexpected high-number genera differed from the common opinion for low bacterial diversity in most of the hypersaline environments and domination of only one cluster [19,20] and determined this niche as belonging to saltern ecosystems with highest bacterial diversity. It was significantly higher than that observed by other authors in hypersaline salterns with higher than 30% salt content of the sampling site (Table 2): three bacterial genera have been established in Maras salterns, Peru [21]; five bacteral genera in a 32% salt pond, Santa Pola salterns, Spain [19]; four bacterial genera in 30% salt ponds, Guerrero Negro saltern, Mexico [22]; and five bacterial genera in the 31% salt pond S5 from a solar saltern in Tunisia [23]. The equal number of genera (15 each) represented in both archaeal [10] and bacterial communities from PS differs from the observations of other authors that members of the domain Archaea are dominant, whereas those of the domain Bacteria are slightly represented in hypersaline environments [4,[21][22][23][24].…”

Section: Salt Composition Of Watercontrasting

confidence: 57%

Phylogenetic analysis of the bacterial community in a crystallizer pond, Pomorie salterns, Bulgaria

Kambourova

Tomova

Boyadzhieva

et al. 2016

Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment

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The aim of this study was to investigate the bacterial community habituating P18, the biggest crystallizer pond in Pomorie salterns (34% salinity). The obtained results showed that the bacterial community differs from many previous reports of low bacterial diversity in hypersaline environments and demonstrates unusually high diversity of presented taxa, some unusual domination of diverse genera not reported before as dominant and identification of previously unknown 16S rRNA sequences. The retrieved 23 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) affiliated with 15 bacterial genera from four phyla -Firmicutes, 47.5%; Proteobacteria, 23.1%; Bacteroidetes, 22%; Deinococcus-Thermus, 2.4%; and one-candidate division SR1, 4.8%. Representatives of the phylum Firmicutes predominated in the bacterial community with almost half of the retrieved sequences. Almost all clones branched together with cultured halophiles or uncultured clones retrieved from saline niches. Despite of the high salt concentration, some of the closest phylogenetic neighbours were moderate halophiles. New sequences represented 42.3% of bacterial OTUs. Some of them formed separate branches with similarity less than 85%.

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Section: Salt Composition Of Watercontrasting

confidence: 57%

Phylogenetic analysis of the bacterial community in a crystallizer pond, Pomorie salterns, Bulgaria

Kambourova

Tomova

Boyadzhieva

et al. 2016

Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment

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“…Only one of them (SR1) had a similarity 497% with S. ruber isolates, providing a new example of the biases imposed by cultivation even in 'culturable' species. Other Salinibacter-related phylotypes (see Table 1) presented the highest identities with environmental clones from medium salinity ponds in Tunisian salterns (Baati et al, 2008(Baati et al, , 2010(Baati et al, , 2011. Remarkably, some Salinibacter phylotypes, like SR4 and SR7, were detected only at specific temporal points from CM2 and CR41, respectively, underscoring the dynamic nature of the microbial communities in the salterns.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…For instance, Hqr. walsbyi cultured strains have o1.8% divergence in their 16S rRNA gene sequences (Legault et al, 2006) while environmental phylotypes recovered from highly distant saltern ponds in Spain Legault et al, 2006), Israel (Soerensen et al, 2005), Turkey (Mutlu et al, 2008), Tunisia (Baati et al, 2008), Peru (Maturrano et al, 2006) and Australia (Oh et al, 2010) normally present o1% divergence. In contrast, some Haloquadratum sequences recovered in this work (Table 2 and Figure 2) showed a higher divergence (up to 5%) in the analyzed 16S rRNA gene fragment.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From community approaches to single-cell genomics: the discovery of ubiquitous hyperhalophilic Bacteroidetes generalists

et al. 2014

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The microbiota of multi-pond solar salterns around the world has been analyzed using a variety of culture-dependent and molecular techniques. However, studies addressing the dynamic nature of these systems are very scarce. Here we have characterized the temporal variation during 1 year of the microbiota of five ponds with increasing salinity (from 18% to 440%), by means of CARD-FISH and DGGE. Microbial community structure was statistically correlated with several environmental parameters, including ionic composition and meteorological factors, indicating that the microbial community was dynamic as specific phylotypes appeared only at certain times of the year. In addition to total salinity, microbial composition was strongly influenced by temperature and specific ionic composition. Remarkably, DGGE analyses unveiled the presence of most phylotypes previously detected in hypersaline systems using metagenomics and other molecular techniques, such as the very abundant Haloquadratum and Salinibacter representatives or the recently described low GC Actinobacteria and Nanohaloarchaeota. In addition, an uncultured group of Bacteroidetes was present along the whole range of salinity. Database searches indicated a previously unrecognized widespread distribution of this phylotype. Single-cell genome analysis of five members of this group suggested a set of metabolic characteristics that could provide competitive advantages in hypersaline environments, such as polymer degradation capabilities, the presence of retinal-binding light-activated proton pumps and arsenate reduction potential. In addition, the fairly high metagenomic fragment recruitment obtained for these single cells in both the intermediate and hypersaline ponds further confirm the DGGE data and point to the generalist lifestyle of this new Bacteroidetes group.

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“…The GN saltern, fed from Pacific Ocean seawater pumped from the Laguna Ojo de Liebre, occupies ϳ100 km 2 and consists of ϳ12 precrystallizer ponds with increasing salinity due to evaporation. Many of the ponds in this saltern contain persistent microbial mats.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and Stratification of Archaea in a Hypersaline Microbial Mat

Robertson

Spear

Harris

et al. 2009

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The Guerrero Negro (GN) hypersaline microbial mats have become one focus for biogeochemical studies of stratified ecosystems. The GN mats are found beneath several of a series of ponds of increasing salinity that make up a solar saltern fed from Pacific Ocean water pumped from the Laguna Ojo de Liebre near GN, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Molecular surveys of the laminated photosynthetic microbial mat below the fourth pond in the series identified an enormous diversity of bacteria in the mat, but archaea have received little attention. To determine the bulk contribution of archaeal phylotypes to the pond 4 study site, we determined the phylogenetic distribution of archaeal rRNA gene sequences in PCR libraries based on nominally universal primers. The ratios of bacterial/archaeal/eukaryotic rRNA genes, 90%/9%/1%, suggest that the archaeal contribution to the metabolic activities of the mat may be significant. To explore the distribution of archaea in the mat, sequences derived using archaeon-specific PCR primers were surveyed in 10 strata of the 6-cm-thick mat. The diversity of archaea overall was substantial albeit less than the diversity observed previously for bacteria. Archaeal diversity, mainly euryarchaeotes, was highest in the uppermost 2 to 3 mm of the mat and decreased rapidly with depth, where crenarchaeotes dominated. Only 3% of the sequences were specifically related to known organisms including methanogens. While some mat archaeal clades corresponded with known chemical gradients, others did not, which is likely explained by heretofore-unrecognized gradients. Some clades did not segregate by depth in the mat, indicating broad metabolic repertoires, undersampling, or both.Photosynthetic microbial mats occur worldwide and serve as models for microbial community interactions. Fossil microbial mats in the form of stromatolites are one of the earliest distinguishable life forms in the rock record (3.4 billion years) (53) and are often studied to gain insights into the development of life on Earth (3, 11) and the influence that early life may have had on the development of the planet's atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere (20).A large contemporary microbial mat system that has received the attention of microbiological studies is found in the solar saltern operated by the Exportadora de Sal SA in Guerrero Negro (GN), Mexico. The GN saltern, fed from Pacific Ocean seawater pumped from the Laguna Ojo de Liebre, occupies ϳ100 km 2 and consists of ϳ12 precrystallizer ponds with increasing salinity due to evaporation. Many of the ponds in this saltern contain persistent microbial mats. More than a million metric tons of biomass (ϳ17 km 2 by ϳ6 cm by 1.2 gm/cm 3 ) covers the floor of hypersaline pond 4 in the form of a laminated photosynthetic microbial mat that is 4 to 6 cm thick. The subjective, macroscopic appearance of the pond 4 mat is stable from year to year, and the mat has been a subject of numerous microbiological and biogeochemical studies (3,8,15,19,24,29,30,38,47,49,56). Chemical measurements of th...

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Prokaryotic diversity of a Tunisian multipond solar saltern

Cited by 90 publications

References 42 publications

Phylogenetic analysis of the bacterial community in a crystallizer pond, Pomorie salterns, Bulgaria

Phylogenetic analysis of the bacterial community in a crystallizer pond, Pomorie salterns, Bulgaria

From community approaches to single-cell genomics: the discovery of ubiquitous hyperhalophilic Bacteroidetes generalists

Diversity and Stratification of Archaea in a Hypersaline Microbial Mat

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