Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Comparative Study of Physical Factors and Microbial Diversity of Four Man-Made Extreme Ecosystems

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ten soil samples were collected from four man-made extreme ecosystems, located adjacent to each other, at Ban Laem district, Phetchaburi province, Thailand. The area is used for sea salt extraction produced in artificial solar salterns. Soil analysis was performed which revealed the extreme conditions in terms of salinity, moisture content, organic matter and nitrogen content. Selective medium was provided for the isolation of microorganisms. Bacteria were found to be the most dominating group of microorganisms followed by fungi, actinomycetes and algae. Morphological and biochemical identification were performed to determine the genus of each microorganism. An actinomycete genus: Streptomyces, an algal genus: Dunaliella, three bacterial genera: Halobacillus, Halobacterium and Halomonas, and a fungal genus: Aspergillus, were the most frequently found microbes in these extreme man-made ecosystems. Interesting inter and intra relationships were observed between physical factors and microbial diversity. Except pH and salinity all physical factors were found to have positive correlation effect on microbial numbers. Actinomycetes was found to favor the fungal populations in man-made extreme ecosystems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kushner DJ (1993) Growth and nutrition of halophilic bacteria. In: Vreeland RH, Hochstein LI (eds) The biology of halophilic bacteria. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 87–89

    Google Scholar 

  2. Gostinčar C, Lenassi M, Gunde-Cimerman N, Plemenitaš A (2011) Fungal adaptation to extremely high salt concentrations. Adv Appl Microbiol 77:71–96

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Ma Y, Galinski EA, Grant WD, Oren A, Ventosa A (2010) Halophiles 2010: life in saline environments. Appl Environ Microbiol 76:6971–6981

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Ali I, Akbar A, Yanwisetpakdee B, Prasongsuk S, Lotrakul P, Punnapayak H (2014) Purification, characterization and potential of saline waste water remediation of a polyextremophilic α-amylase from an obligate halophilic Aspergillus gracilis. Biomed Res Int. doi:10.1155/2014/106937

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ali I, Kanhayuwa L, Rachdawong S, Rakshit SK (2013) Identification, phylogenetic analysis and characterization of obligate halophilic fungi isolated from a man-made solar saltern in Phetchaburi province, Thailand. Ann Microbiol 63:887–895

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Seong CN, Choi JH, Baik K (2001) An improved selective isolation of rare Actinomycetes from forest soil. J Microbiol 39:17–23

    Google Scholar 

  7. Berd D (1973) Laboratory identification of clinically important aerobic actinomycetes. Appl Microbiol 25:665–681

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Shirling EB, Gottlieb D (1966) Methods for characterization of Streptomyces species. Int J Syst Bacteriol 16:313–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ali I, Rakshit SK, Kanhayuwa L (2011) Biohydrogen production from microalgae of Chlorella sp. Int Conf Sustain Community Dev 27:74–77

    Google Scholar 

  10. Borowitzka MA, Silva CJ (2007) The taxonomy of the genus Dunaliella (Chlorophyta, Dunaliellales) with emphasis on the marine and halophilic species. J Appl Phycol 19:567–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Graham LE, Wilcox LW (2000) Algae. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  12. Bjorksten B, Sepp E, Julge K, Voor T, Mikelsaar M (2001) Allergy development and the intestinal microflora during the first year of life. J Allergy Clin Immunol 108:516–520

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Manero A, Blanch AR (1999) Identification of Enterococcus spp. with a biochemical key. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:4425–4430

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Diez MC (2010) Biological aspects involved in the degradation of organic pollutants. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 10:244–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Saju KA, Michael BM, Murugan M, Raj ST (2011) Survey on Halophilic microbial diversity of Kovalam Saltpans in Kanyakumari District and its industrial applications. J Appl Pharm Sci 01:160–163

    Google Scholar 

  16. Tempesta S, Paoletti M, Pasqualetti M (2010) Morphological and molecular identification of a strain of the unicellular green alga Dunaliella sp. isolated from Tarquinia Salterns. TWB 2:60–70. doi:10.1285/i1825229Xv4n2p60

    Google Scholar 

  17. Cai M, Zhi XY, Tang SK, Zhang YQ, Xu LH, Li WJ (2008) Streptomonospora halophila sp. nov., a halophilic actinomycete isolated from a hypersaline soil. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 58:1556–1560

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Ghai R, Pasic L, Fernandez AB, Martin-Cuadrado AB, Mizuno CM, McMahon KD, Papke RT, Stepanauskas R, Rodriguez-Brito B, Rohwer F, Sanchez-Porro C, Ventosa A, Rodrıguez-Valera F (2011) New abundant microbial groups in aquatic hypersaline environments. Sci Rep. doi:10.1038/srep00135

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Ollivier B, Caumettte P, Garcia J, Mah R (1994) Anaerobic bacteria from hypersaline environments. Microbiol Rev 58:27–38

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Reynaud PA, Roger PA (1981) Seasonal variations of algal flora and of N2-fixing activity in a water logged sandy soil. Rev Ecol Biol Sol 18:9–27

    Google Scholar 

  21. Pitt JI, Hocking AD (1997) Fungi and food spoilage, 2nd edn. Blackie Academic and Professional, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  22. De Hoog GS, Zalar P, Gerrits van den Ende AHG, Gunde-Cimerman N (2005) Relation of halotolerance to human pathogenicity in the fungal tree of life: an overview of ecology and evolution under stress. In: Gunde-Cimerman N, Oren A, Plemenitaš A (eds) Adaptation to life at high salt concentrations in Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 371–395

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  23. Grant WD (2004) Life at low water activity. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 359:1249–1266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Mille-Lindblom C, Fischer H, Tranvik LJ (2006) Antagonism between bacteria and fungi: substrate competition and a possible tradeoff between fungal growth and tolerance toward bacteria. Oikos 113:233–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wargo MJ, Hogan DA (2006) Fungal–bacterial interactions: a mixed bag of mingling microbes. Curr Opin Microbiol 9:359–364

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Shand RF, Levya KJ (2008) Archaeal antimicrobials: an undiscovered country. In: Blum P (ed) Archaea new models for prokaryotic biology. Caister Academic Press, Norfolk, p 248

    Google Scholar 

  27. Saadoun I, Gharaibeh R (2003) The Streptomyces flora of Badia region of Jordan and its potential as a source of antibiotics active against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. J Arid Environ 53:365–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Ali I, Akbar A, Punnapayak H, Prasongsuk S, Yanwisetpakdee B (2014) Big challenges for Pakistan—and the lessons they could teach. Futurist 48:22–26

    Google Scholar 

  29. Ali I, Siwarungson N, Punnapayak H, Lotrakul P, Prasongsuk S, Bankeeree W, Rakshit SK (2013) Screening of potential biotechnological applications from obligate halophilic fungi, isolated from a man-made solar saltern located in Phetchaburi province, Thailand. Pak J Bot 46:983–988

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors like to thank all who helped in the present research work. The Research Grant Funds have been provided by agreement on Post-Doctoral Research Grant Allocation from the Ratchadaphisek Somphot Fund. This research has also been supported by National Research University Project, Office of Higher Education Commission (WCU-038-EN-57).

Conflict of interest

There has been no conflict of interests among authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Biomass Utilization Research Unit, Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Imran Ali, Hunsa Punnapayak, Pongtharin Lotrakul, Sehanat Prasongsuk, Benjawan Yanwisetpakdee & Ponlada Permpornsakul

  2. Institute of Biochemistry, University of Balochistan, Quetta, 87300, Pakistan

    Imran Ali & Muhammad Anwar

  3. Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Klong Luang, Pathumthani, 12120, Thailand

    Imran Ali & Ali Akbar

  4. Faculty of Marine Sciences, Lasbella University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Pakistan

    Muhammad Aslam

  5. Department of Chemistry, University of Balochistan, Quetta, 87300, Pakistan

    Sami Ullah

  6. Department of Chemical Engineering, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ONP7B5E1, Canada

    Sudip K. Rakshit

Authors
  1. Imran Ali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ali Akbar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Muhammad Aslam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sami Ullah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Muhammad Anwar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hunsa Punnapayak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Pongtharin Lotrakul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Sehanat Prasongsuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Benjawan Yanwisetpakdee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Ponlada Permpornsakul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Sudip K. Rakshit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Imran Ali.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 2404 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ali, I., Akbar, A., Aslam, M. et al. Comparative Study of Physical Factors and Microbial Diversity of Four Man-Made Extreme Ecosystems. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. 86, 767–778 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-015-0519-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-015-0519-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation