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Microbial diversity in an Armenian geothermal spring assessed by molecular and culture‐based methods
Author(s) -
Panosyan Hovik,
Birkeland NilsKåre
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of basic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.58
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1521-4028
pISSN - 0233-111X
DOI - 10.1002/jobm.201300999
Subject(s) - biology , gammaproteobacteria , bacteroidetes , firmicutes , alphaproteobacteria , proteobacteria , betaproteobacteria , temperature gradient gel electrophoresis , 16s ribosomal rna , library , actinobacteria , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , bacteria , genetics
The phylogenetic diversity of the prokaryotic community thriving in the Arzakan hot spring in Armenia was studied using molecular and culture‐based methods. A sequence analysis of 16S rRNA gene clone libraries demonstrated the presence of a diversity of microorganisms belonging to the Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Epsilonproteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes phyla, and Cyanobacteria. Proteobacteria was the dominant group, representing 52% of the bacterial clones. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments also indicated the abundance of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Cyanobacteria populations. Most of the sequences were most closely related to uncultivated microorganisms and shared less than 96% similarity with their closest matches in GenBank, indicating that this spring harbors a unique community of novel microbial species or genera. The majority of the sequences of an archaeal 16S rRNA gene library, generated from a methanogenic enrichment, were close relatives of members of the genus Methanoculleus . Aerobic endospore‐forming bacteria mainly belonging to Bacillus and Geobacillus were detected only by culture‐dependent methods. Three isolates were successfully obtained having 99, 96, and 96% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to Arcobacter sp., Methylocaldum sp., and Methanoculleus sp., respectively.