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High Bacterial Diversity in Epilithic Biofilms of Oligotrophic Mountain Lakes

  • Microbiology of Aquatic Systems
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Abstract

Benthic microbial biofilms attached to rocks (epilithic) are major sites of carbon cycling and can dominate ecosystem primary production in oligotrophic lakes. We studied the bacterial community composition of littoral epilithic biofilms in five connected oligotrophic high mountain lakes located at different altitudes by genetic fingerprinting and clone libraries of the 16S rRNA gene. Different intra-lake samples were analyzed, and consistent changes in community structure (chlorophyll a and organic matter contents, and bacterial community composition) were observed along the altitudinal gradient, particularly related with the location of the lake above or below the treeline. Epilithic biofilm genetic fingerprints were both more diverse among lakes than within lakes and significantly different between montane (below the tree line) and alpine lakes (above the tree line). The genetic richness in the epilithic biofilm was much higher than in the plankton of the same lacustrine area studied in previous works, with significantly idiosyncratic phylogenetic composition (specifically distinct from lake plankton or mountain soils). Data suggest the coexistence of aerobic, anaerobic, phototrophic, and chemotrophic microorganisms in the biofilm, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria being the most important bacterial taxa, followed by Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma-, and Deltaproteobacteria, Chlorobi, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia. The degree of novelty was especially high for epilithic Bacteroidetes, and up to 50 % of the sequences formed monophyletic clusters distantly related to any previously reported sequence. More than 35 % of the total sequences matched at <95 % identity to any previously reported 16S rRNA gene, indicating that alpine epilithic biofilms are unexplored habitats that contain a substantial degree of novelty within a short geographical distance. Further research is needed to determine whether these communities are involved in more biogeochemical pathways than previously thought.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to the Authorities of the Aigüestortes and Estany de St Maurici National Park for permission to work in the protected areas and continuous support, and the Centre de Recerca d’Alta Muntanya (CRAM), Universitat de Barcelona, Vielha, for laboratory facilities. J. Arola, C. Gutiérrez, and X. Triadó are acknowledged for field and laboratory assistance, and J.C. Auguet for help with the diversity indexes and critical reading of the manuscript. This research was supported by grants TRAZAS (CGL2004-02989), NitroPir (CGL2010-19373), and PIRENA (CGL2009-13318) from the Spanish Office of Science and Innovation (MICINN), the CONSOLIDER grant GRACCIE CSD2007-00067 (MICINN), and the EU Project Euro-Limpacs (GOCE-CT-2003- 505540).

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  1. Biogeodynamics and Biodiversity Group, Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes, CEAB-CSIC, Spanish Council for Scientific Research, Accés Cala St. Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain

    Mireia Bartrons, Jordi Catalan & Emilio O. Casamayor

  2. Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 680 N. Park St., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Mireia Bartrons

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  1. Mireia Bartrons
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  2. Jordi Catalan
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Correspondence to Emilio O. Casamayor.

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Bartrons, M., Catalan, J. & Casamayor, E.O. High Bacterial Diversity in Epilithic Biofilms of Oligotrophic Mountain Lakes. Microb Ecol 64, 860–869 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-012-0072-4

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