Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPELEOLOGY
Volume 43, Issue 2, Pages 205-216Publisher
SOCIETA SPELEOLOGICA ITALIANA
DOI: 10.5038/1827-806X.43.2.8
Keywords
microbial community; fungi; brackish pools; anchialine; carbonate precipitates; ferromanganese deposits; littoral cave; Mallorca
Categories
Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MINECO) [CGL2010-18616, CGL2011-24318, CSD2009-00006]
- Government of the Balearic Islands - FEDER
Ask authors/readers for more resources
As a part of an ongoing project on the role of microbes in the biogeochemistry of Majorcan caves, the species diversity of microbial communities present in cave pools of anchialine waters in the Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Mallorca, Western Mediterranean) is investigated by a culture-dependent method. Two-hundred and forty-eight strains isolated from this characteristic littoral karst cave environment are identified by whole-cell-MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and phylogenetically by 16S rRNA gene sequences. Total cell counts and species diversity of the bacterial communities decrease with the distance to the entrance of the cave and to the sea. Strains are mainly identified as members of the Gammaproteobacteria and Actinobacteria. Around 20% of the isolates are able to precipitate carbonates. Calcite is the predominant phase, growing in all the precipitates, although struvite is also found in one Pseudomonas and in one Aspergillus cultures. Differences in crystal habit and growth are observed according to the bacterial species promoting the precipitates. Bacteria associated with multicolored ferromanganese deposits, present in several parts of the cave, are also studied and are identified as Pseudomonas benzenivorans and Nocardioides luteus. The preponderance of Pseudomonas species and the possible contribution of bacteria in calcite deposition are discussed.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available