Archaeal and bacterial diversity in five different hydrothermal ponds in the Copahue region in Argentina

URBIETA M.S.; GONZALEZ TORIL, E.; GIAVENO, M. A.; AGUILERA BAZÁN, A.; DONATI E.R.

SYSTEMATIC AND APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

ELSEVIER GMBH

Año: 2014 vol. 37 p. 429 - 441

0723-2020

Copahue is an acidic geothermal volcanic region in the Northwest corner of Neuquén province in Argentina. In the area there are various ponds, pools and hot springs with different temperature, pH values and different levels of anthropogenic influence. In this work we studied the prokaryotic biodiversity of five representative ponds using two complementary molecular ecology techniques: phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA bacterial and archaeal genes and FISH (or CARD-FISH) for quantitative estimation of biodiversity. The results, supported by multivariate statistical analysis,showed that the biodiversity in Copahue ponds seemed to be determined by temperature. High temperature ponds were dominated by archaea, mainly apparently novel representatives from the orders Sulfolobales and Thermoplasmatales that have no close cultivated relatives. By contrast moderate temperature ponds were colonised by well characterised sulphur-oxidising bacteria related to acidic environments such as other geothermal sites or acid mine drainage, and archaea were absent.Combining the biodiversity results from this study and the reported physicochemical features of Copahue, a preliminary model of the possible biogeochemical interaction was outlined for moderate and high temperature ponds.