First insight into microbial diversity and ion concentration in the Uyuni salt flat, Bolivia

Perez-Fernandez, Cesar; Iriarte, Mercedes; Hinojosa-Delgadillo, Wilber; Veizaga-Salinas, Andrea; Cano, Raúl J.; Rivera-Pérez, Jessica I.; Toranzos, Gary A.

doi:10.18475/cjos.v49i1.a6

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Salares belonging to the Lithium Triangle Zone, their characteristics and key studies (Hurlbert and Chang, 1983; Garret, 2004; An et al, 2012; Lorenzini, 2012; Nacif and Lacabana, 2015; Perez-Fernandez et al, 2016; Haferburg et al, 2017; Rubin et al, 2017; Cubillos et al, 2018; Martínez et al, 2018). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These natural Li reservoirs have been widely characterized from geological, hydrological, meteorological and economical viewpoints (Garret, 2004; Vila, 2010; An et al, 2012; Nacif and Lacabana, 2015). Microbial communities have been less studied, but have shown a recent increase in interest (Perez-Fernandez et al, 2016; Haferburg et al, 2017; Rubin et al, 2017; Cubillos et al, 2018; Martínez et al, 2018). At a microbiological level, lithium has been classified as an antimicrobial compound (Lieb, 2004), associated with the stimulation of autolysis (Sugahara et al, 1983), sporulation in Bacillus -species (Warburg et al, 1985; Li et al, 2014) or growth inhibition in fungi (Kurita and Funabashi, 1984) and yeasts (Morris, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Insights Into the Microbiology of the Chaotropic Brines of Salar de Atacama, Chile

et al. 2019

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Microbial life inhabiting hypersaline environments belong to a limited group of extremophile or extremotolerant taxa. Natural or artificial hypersaline environments are not limited to high concentrations of NaCl, and under such conditions, specific adaptation mechanisms are necessary to permit microbial survival and growth. Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile include three large salars (salt flats) which globally, represent the largest lithium reserves, and are commonly referred to as the Lithium Triangle Zone. To date, a large amount of information has been generated regarding chemical, geological, meteorological and economical perspectives of these salars. However, there is a remarkable lack of information regarding the biology of these unique environments. Here, we report the presence of two bacterial strains (isolates LIBR002 and LIBR003) from one of the most hypersaline lithium-dominated man-made environments (total salinity 556 g/L; 11.7 M LiCl) reported to date. Both isolates were classified to the Bacillus genera, but displayed differences in 16S rRNA gene and fatty acid profiles. Our results also revealed that the isolates are lithium-tolerant and that they are phylogenetically differentiated from those Bacillus associated with high NaCl concentration environments, and form a new clade from the Lithium Triangle Zone. To determine osmoadaptation strategies in these microorganisms, both isolates were characterized using morphological, metabolic and physiological attributes. We suggest that our characterization of bacterial isolates from a highly lithium-enriched environment has revealed that even at such extreme salinities with high concentrations of chaotropic solutes, scope for microbial life exists. These conditions have previously been considered to limit the development of life, and our work extends the window of life beyond high concentrations of MgCl 2 , as previously reported, to LiCl. Our results can be used to further the understanding of salt tolerance, most especially for LiCl-dominated brines, and likely have value as models for the understanding of putative extra-terrestrial (e.g., Martian) life.

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