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    STUDIA BIOLOGIA - Issue no. 1 / 2015  
         
  Article:   BACTERIAL DIVERSITY IN A MICROBIAL MAT COLONIZING A MAN-MADE GEOTHERMAL SPRING FROM ROMANIA.

Authors:  CECILIA M. CHIRIAC, LUCIAN BARBU-TUDORAN, ANDREEA BARICZ, EDINA SZEKERES, TIBERIU SZOKE-NAGY, NICOLAE DRAGOȘ, CRISTIAN COMAN.
 
       
         
  Abstract:   VIEW PDF: BACTERIAL DIVERSITY IN A MICROBIAL MAT COLONIZING A MAN-MADE GEOTHERMAL SPRING FROM ROMANIA

Some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth comes from microbialites, or biologically induced carbonate deposits. Modern lithified microbial mats are considered analogues to some of the earliest Archaean ecosystems. This study investigated the bacterial diversity in a microbial mat developed on the surface of a hot spring carbonate deposit from Romania. A clone library was constructed and more than 200 partial 16S rRNA gene sequences were obtained. Phylogenetic analysis showed the existence of nine major groups. Gammaproteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Betaproteobacteria were dominant, comprising 75% of the clone library. Verrucomicrobia, some Cyanobacteria (Phormidium, Oscillatoria and Leptolyngbya), Chloroflexi, Firmicutes and Deltaproteobacteria taxa observed in the investigated mat are common inhabitants of this type of environments. Arthrospira platensis and Desertifilum tharense (Cyanobacteria) were described for the first time in association with a geothermal habitat. Also, the representatives of Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Chrysiogenetes identified in the mat have not been described in geothermal habitats, but are known to prevail in saline, neutral to alkaline environments.

Keywords: bacterial diversity, community structure, cyanobacterial mat, hot springs.


Corresponding author: Cristian Coman, Institute of Biological Research, 48 Republicii Street, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Email: cristian.coman@icbcluj.ro
 
         
     
         
         
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