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Use of specific PCR primers for the study of sulfate-reducing bacteria diversity in microbial mats of Ebro Delta, Spain

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Abstract

Microbial mats are prokaryotic communities that provide model systems to analyze microbial diversity and ecophysiological interactions. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) play a key role in sulfur and nutrient recycling in these ecosystems. In this work, specific primers for 16S rRNA encoding gene, previously described, were used to study the diversity of SRB in microbial mats of the Ebro Delta. We confirm that this method is reliable to identify the diversity of SRB in these ecosystems. However, some mismatches in obtained sequences had been observed in our system and must be taken under consideration. Various genera of SRB in Ebro Delta microbial mats were identified, such as Desulfonema, Desulfatitalea, Desulfosalsimonas, Desulfoccocus, and Desulfovibrio. The diversity observed in our samples is very similar to previously reported in other microbial mats communities.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Parc Natural del Delta de l’Ebre of the Government of Catalonia for giving permission to enter and collect samples in the protected area of La Banya.

Funding

This study was financed by the Catalan Government through the Grup de Recerca SGR (projects 2014SGR1181 and 2017SGR1733).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Robert Benaiges-Fernandez & Jordi Urmeneta

  2. Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA, CSIC), 08034, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Robert Benaiges-Fernandez

  3. Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Jordi Urmeneta

Authors
  1. Robert Benaiges-Fernandez
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  2. Jordi Urmeneta
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Correspondence to Jordi Urmeneta.

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Benaiges-Fernandez, R., Urmeneta, J. Use of specific PCR primers for the study of sulfate-reducing bacteria diversity in microbial mats of Ebro Delta, Spain. Int Microbiol 21, 231–235 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10123-018-0020-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10123-018-0020-3

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