Seasonal dynamics of extremely halophilic microbial communities in three Argentinian salterns

DI MEGLIO, L.G.; SANTOS, F.; GOMARIZ, M.; ALMANSA, C.; LÓPEZ, C.; ANTÓN, J.; NERCESSIAN, D.

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2016

0168-6496

A seasonal sampling was carried out in three Argentinian salterns: Salitral Negro (SN), Colorada Grande (CG) and Guatraché (G), aimed to analyze abiotic parameters and microbial diversity and dynamics. Microbial assemblages were correlated to environmental factors by statistical analyses. Principal-Component-Analysis of environmental data grouped SN and CG, separately from G samples, owing to its higher pH values and sulfate concentration. Differences in microbial assemblages were also found. Many archaeal sequences belonged to uncultured members of Haloquadratum and Haloquadratum-related genera, with different environmental optima. Notably, nearly half of the archaeal sequences affiliated to the recently described ?Candidatus Haloredividus? (phylum Nanohaloarchaeota), not previously detected in salt-saturated environments. Most bacterial sequences belonged to Salinibacter representatives, while sequences affiliated to the recently described genus Spiribacter were also found. Seasonal analysis showed at least 40% of the microbiota from the three salterns was prevalent along the year, indicating they are well adapted to environmental fluctuations. On the other side, a minority of archaeal and bacterial sequences were found to be seasonally distributed.