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Life in extreme environments: microbial diversity in Great Salt Lake, Utah.

Life in extreme environments: microbial diversity in Great Salt Lake, Utah.

Authors :
Tazi L
Breakwell DP
Harker AR
Crandall KA
Source :
Extremophiles : life under extreme conditions [Extremophiles] 2014 May; Vol. 18 (3), pp. 525-35. Date of Electronic Publication: 2014 Mar 30.
Publication Year :
2014

Abstract

Great Salt Lake (GSL) represents one of the world's most hypersaline environments. In this study, the archaeal and bacterial communities at the North and South arms of the lake were surveyed by cloning and sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. The sampling locations were chosen for high salt concentration and the presence of unique environmental gradients, such as petroleum seeps and high sulfur content. Molecular techniques have not been systematically applied to this extreme environment, and thus the composition and the genetic diversity of microbial communities at GSL remain mostly unknown. This study led to the identification of 58 archaeal and 42 bacterial operational taxonomic units. Our phylogenetic and statistical analyses displayed a high biodiversity of the microbial communities in this environment. In this survey, we also showed that the majority of the 16S rRNA gene sequences within the clone library were distantly related to previously described environmental halophilic archaeal and bacterial taxa and represent novel phylotypes.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1433-4909
Volume :
18
Issue :
3
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Extremophiles : life under extreme conditions
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
24682608
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-014-0637-x