Cultivo e filogenia molecular de Archaea a partir de amostras de aquário de água doce

Members of Archaea are found on a vast range of envirnoments, including soils, sediments, and aquatic habitats. Recent studies stress the need of cultivation of mesophilic Archaea, since several physiological and biochemical aspects of these organisms remain unknown due to cultivation-independent techniques intrinsic limitations. In this work, we refined methodologies in order to obtain archaeal cultures from a freshwater aquarium, using the water from the aquarium to prepare the culture media. In order to favor the growth of ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOAs), the media were supplemented with ammonium chloride, and a number of antibiotics and antifungals. Eleven colonies were selected and characterized microscopically, revealing the presence of small coccoid cells, with an average diameter of 1 μM, sometimes presenting cell appendages probably involved in cell adhesion. Molecular phylogeny analises were performed by PCR experiments specifically directed to the 16S rRNA genes of Archaea and Bacteria, as well as to the amoA gene, found only on AOAs, followed by automated DNA sequencing. The results revealed that all colonies consisted of co-cultures of archaeal cells belonging to phylum Thaumarchaeote, with bacteria of the genera Pandoraea or Cupriavidus. Some colonies were also positive for the presence of amoA gene, suggesting a nitrification potential of these samples. A genomic 16S rRNA library was also constructed from a sample consisting of water and other elements of the aquarium. The phylogenetic analyses of this library suggest that probably, the aquarium corresponds to an environment with a small diversity, in terms of the archaeal community.