Archaeal Community Structures in the Solfataric Acidic Hot Springs with Different Temperatures and Elemental Compositions

Abstract

Archaeal 16S rRNA gene compositions and environmental factors of four distinct solfataric acidic hot springs in Kirishima, Japan were compared. The four ponds were selected by differences of temperature and total dissolved elemental concentration as follows: (1) Pond-A: 93°C and 1679 mg L−1, (2) Pond-B: 66°C and 2248 mg L−1, (3) Pond-C: 88°C and 198 mg L−1, and (4) Pond-D: 67°C and 340 mg L−1. In total, 431 clones of 16S rRNA gene were classified into 26 phylotypes. In Pond-B, the archaeal diversity was the highest among the four, and the members of the order Sulfolobales were dominant. The Pond-D also showed relatively high diversity, and the most frequent group was uncultured thermoacidic spring clone group. In contrast to Pond-B and Pond-D, much less diverse archaeal clones were detected in Pond-A and Pond-C showing higher temperatures. However, dominant groups in these ponds were also different from each other. The members of the order Sulfolobales shared 89% of total clones in Pond-A, and the uncultured crenarchaeal groups shared 99% of total Pond-C clones. Therefore, species compositions and biodiversity were clearly different among the ponds showing different temperatures and dissolved elemental concentrations.

The Relationship Between Microbial Community Structures and Environmental Parameters Revealed by Metagenomic Analysis of Hot Spring Water in the Kirishima Area, Japan

“…The genus Sulfurihydrogenibium of the Aquificae dominated in Y1 and N1, and the family Sulfolobaceae of the Crenarchaeota dominated in K2, I1, T1, G1, and N2 (Figure 2B). This result was consistent with the previous report that archaea belonging to the order Sulfolobales were detected in samples (Pond-A and Pond-B) with higher dissolved element concentration in the Kirishima hot springs (Satoh et al, 2013). One isolate of the Sulfolobaceae from an acidic hot spring, Sulfodiicoccus acidiphilus , showed adaptation to low pH and high temperature (Sakai and Kurosawa, 2017).…”

“…Samples from the area are suitable for investigating the relationships between the microbial community composition and environmental factors of the hot springs. Although one example of the microbial communities in the Kirishima area has been reported, the study targeted only the archaeal communities in acidic regions (Satoh et al, 2013).…”

Taxonomic and functional characteristics of microbial communities and their correlation with physicochemical properties of four geothermal springs in Odisha, India

“…In fact, the majority of such organisms remain as unknown (Pace, 1997 ; Ward et al, 1998 ; Suenaga, 2012 ). However, in the last decade, the application of culture-independent genomics or metagenomics (Handelsman, 2004 ; Sharon and Banfield, 2013 ) approaches coupled with high-throughput DNA sequencing has proved a promising tool to investigate the population diversity, gene content, function and ecological significance of microbial communities living in diverse hot spring environments (Inskeep et al, 2010 , 2013 ; Swingley et al, 2012 ; Huang et al, 2013 ; Satoh et al, 2013 ; Wang et al, 2013 ; Delgado-Serrano et al, 2014 ).…”

“…However, these microorganisms exhibit remarkable genomic and metabolic flexibility (Segerer et al, 1993 ; Stetter, 1999 ; Amend and Shock, 2001 ; Hamilton et al, 2012 ; Wemheuer et al, 2013 ). Significant differences in microbial communities exist among hot springs with different ranges of physicochemical parameters and discrete geographic locations (Meyer-Dombard et al, 2005 ; Lau et al, 2009 ; Inskeep et al, 2010 , 2013 ; Swingley et al, 2012 ; Huang et al, 2013 ; Mackenzie et al, 2013 ; Satoh et al, 2013 ; Wang et al, 2013 ; Delgado-Serrano et al, 2014 ). Therefore, analyzing the changes in the diversity and composition of microbial communities in relationship with environmental physicochemical factors across geothermal systems will possibly reveal how microorganisms adapt to and tolerate extreme environmental conditions and increase our understanding of microbial ecology and evolution.…”

Complete genome sequence of the Sulfodiicoccus acidiphilus strain HS-1T, the first crenarchaeon that lacks polB3, isolated from an acidic hot spring in Ohwaku-dani, Hakone, Japan

“…Sulfodiicoccus acidiphilus HS-1 T , represented a novel genus, was recently isolated in our laboratory and validly described [1]. The genus belongs to the order Sulfolobales , a well-known taxon of the phylum Crenarchaeota , widely inhabits hot acidic environments all over the world [2–5]. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities between S. acidiphilus and other species in the order Sulfolobales were less than 89%.…”