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Cited by 316Microbial Community Ecology and PhysiologyGenomics and Phylogenetic StudiesPolar Research and Ecology

Prokaryotic Genetic Diversity throughout the Salinity Gradient of a Coastal Solar Saltern

Benlloch, Susana, López‐López, Arantxa, Casamayor, Emilio O., Øvreås, Lise, Goddard, Victoria, Daae, Frida Lise, Smerdon, Gary, Massana, Ramón +4 more·2002·Environmental Microbiology
DOI 10.1046/j.1462-2920.2002.00306.x
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Abstract

Bacterial and archaeal assemblages have been studied in a multipond solar saltern using a range of microbial ecology techniques by four laboratories simultaneously. These include 16S rDNA sequencing from both denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and clone libraries, and culturing methods. Water samples from eight ponds were analysed, covering a salinity range from near sea water (4% salt) to saturated sodium chloride (37% salt; ponds called crystallizers). Clone libraries focused on ponds with salinity of 8%, 22% and 32%. Although different cloning strategies were able to retrieve the same type of dominant sequences, there were differing degrees of success with less abundant sequences. Thus, the use of two sets of primers recovered a higher number of phylotypes. Bacterial and archaeal isolates were, however, different from any of the retrieved environmental sequences. For Bacteria, most sequences in the 8% salt pond were related to organisms of marine origin. Thus, representatives of the alpha-, beta-, gamma- and epsilon-subdivisions of Proteobacteria, the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides group (CFB), high-G+C Gram-positive bacteria and cyanobacteria were found. In the 22% salt pond, alpha- and gamma-Proteobacteria, cyanobacteria and CFB were the only groups found, and most of them were related to specialized halophilic bacteria. From the 32% salt pond, only CFB were found, and most of the sequences retrieved clustered with Salinibacter ruber, an extremely halophilic bacterium. A decrease in the richness of bacterial genera was therefore apparent along the gradient. Archaea behaved quite similarly. In the lowest salinity ponds, sequences were related to environmental clones of Marine Archaea Group III (Thermoplasmales relatives) and to unclassified branches of Euryarchaeaota. In the 8%, 22% and 32% ponds, most of the clones were related to different cultured strains of Halobacteriaceae. Finally, most sequences from the crystallizers clustered with the uncultured square archaeon SPhT. Crenarchaeaota were not detected. Despite the fact that higher prokaryotic richness was apparent in the lower salinity ponds than in the crystallizers, the diversity index from clone libraries calculated according to Shannon and Weaver did not show this trend. This was because diversity in the crystallizers can be considered as 'microdiversity', the co-existence of several closely related clones of Bacteria (the S. ruber cluster) and Archaea (the SPhT cluster). Regardless of the changes in abundance, both Bacteria and Archaea showed the same pattern; as salinity increased, the number of different clusters decreased, and only one cluster became dominant. Both clusters, however, showed a considerable degree of microdiversity. The meaning of such microdiversity remains to be determined.

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Crossref · 10.1046/j.1462-2920.2002.00306.x

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  • Nutrient-poor or extreme environments like high-salinity ponds contain microbial communities with a lower species complexity.

    “On the other hand, nutrient-poor or extreme environments like high-salinity ponds contain microbial communities with a lower species complexity [24].”

    From Microbiota of Cheese Ecosystems: A Perspective on Cheesemaking (2025) · cites this paper as [24]

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Authors
Benlloch, S., López‐López, A., Casamayor, E. O., Øvreås, L., Goddard, V., Daae, F. L., Smerdon, G., Massana, R., Joint, I., Thingstad, F., Pedrós‐Alió, C., & Rodríguez‐Valera, F.
Affiliations
  • Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx (ES)
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
  • University of Bergen (NO)
  • Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB)
Corresponding author
Casamayor, Emilio O.
ORCID
Venue
Environmental Microbiology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2002-06
Volume
4
Issue
6
Pages
349-360
ISSN
  • 1462-2912 (ISSN-L)
  • 1462-2920
DOI
10.1046/j.1462-2920.2002.00306.x
OpenAlex
W2055443065
Cited by
316
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 15
FWCI
10.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 17 d)
Locations
  • Environmental Microbiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • European Commission
  • Universitetet i Bergen
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Polar Research and Ecology
Keywords
solar salterns, salinity gradient, prokaryotic diversity, bacterial assemblages, halophilic bacteria, Salinibacter ruber, Halobacteriaceae, Crenarchaeota, archaea, Proteobacteria, cyanobacteria, microdiversity
MeSH terms
Archaea, Bacteria, Electrophoresis, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Seawater, Sodium Chloride, Genetic Variation, Water Microbiology, Gene Library, Ecosystem

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