Archaeal Distribution in Moonmilk Deposits from Alpine Caves and Their Ecophysiological Potential

Microbial Ecology
Christoph ReitschulerPaul Illmer

Abstract

(Alpine) caves are, in general, windows into the Earth's subsurface. Frequently occurring structures in caves such as moonmilk (secondary calcite deposits) offer the opportunity to study intraterrestrial microbial communities, adapted to oligotrophic and cold conditions. This is an important research field regarding the dimensions of subsurface systems and cold regions on Earth. On a methodological level, moonmilk deposits from 11 caves in the Austrian Alps were collected aseptically and investigated using a molecular (qPCR and DGGE sequencing-based) methodology in order to study the occurrence, abundance, and diversity of the prevailing native Archaea community. Furthermore, these Archaea were enriched in complex media and studied regarding their physiology, with a media selection targeting different physiological requirements, e.g. methanogenesis and ammonia oxidation. The investigation of the environmental samples showed that all moonmilk deposits were characterized by the presence of the same few habitat-specific archaeal species, showing high abundances and constituting about 50 % of the total microbial communities. The largest fraction of these Archaea was ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota, while another abundant group was...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 22, 2020·International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology·Pavel ŠvecIvo Sedláček
Jul 15, 2017·Frontiers in Microbiology·Marta MaciejewskaSébastien Rigali
Oct 28, 2018·Scientific Reports·Angela CiriglianoTeresa Rinaldi

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