Thiothrix and Sulfurovum genera dominate bacterial mats in Slovak cold sulfur springs

0576375 - ÚŽFG 2024 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Nosálová, L. - Mekadim, Chahrazed - Mrázek, Jakub - Pristas, P.
Thiothrix and Sulfurovum genera dominate bacterial mats in Slovak cold sulfur springs.
Environmental Microbiome. Roč. 18, č. 1 (2023), č. článku 72. E-ISSN 2524-6372
Institutional support: RVO:67985904
Keywords : sulfur-oxidizing bacteria * sulfur springs * microbiota
OECD category: Microbiology
Impact factor: 7.9, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://environmentalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-023-00527-4

Microbiota of sulfur-rich environments has been extensively studied due to the biotechnological potential of sulfur bacteria, or as a model of ancient life. Cold terrestrial sulfur springs are less studied compared to sulfur-oxidizing microbiota of hydrothermal vents, volcanic environments, or soda lakes. Despite that, several studies suggested that sulfur springs harbor diverse microbial communities because of the unique geochemical conditions of upwelling waters. In this study, the microbiota of five terrestrial sulfur springs was examined using a 16 S rRNA gene sequencing. The clear dominance of the Proteobacteria and Campylobacterota phyla of cold sulfur springs microbiota was observed. Contrary to that, the microbiota of the hot sulfur spring was dominated by the Aquificota and Firmicutes phylum respectively. Sulfur-oxidizing genera constituted a dominant part of the microbial populations with the Thiothrix and Sulfurovum genera identified as the core microbiota of cold sulfur terrestrial springs in Slovakia. Additionally, the study emphasizes that sulfur springs in Slovakia support unique, poorly characterized bacterial communities of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0345944