title: Archaeal and bacterial diversity in acidic to circumneutral hot springs in the Philippines.
abstract: The microbial diversity was investigated in sediments of six acidic to circumneutral hot springs (Temperature: 60-92 °C, pH 3.72-6.58) in the Philippines using an integrated approach that included geochemistry and 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. Both bacterial and archaeal abundances were lower in high-temperature springs than in moderate-temperature ones. Overall, the archaeal community consisted of sequence reads that exhibited a high similarity (nucleotide identity > 92%) to phyla Crenarchaeota, Euryarchaeota, and unclassified Archaea. The bacterial community was composed of sequence reads moderately related (nucleotide identity > 90%) to 17 phyla, with Aquificae and Firmicutes being dominant. These phylogenetic groups were correlated with environmental conditions such as temperature, dissolved sulfate and calcium concentrations in spring water, and sediment properties including total nitrogen, pyrite, and elemental sulfur. Based on the phylogenetic inference, sulfur metabolisms appear to be key physiological functions in these hot springs. Sulfobacillus (within phylum Firmicutes) along with members within Sulfolobales were abundant in two high-temperature springs (> 76 °C), and they were hypothesized to play an important role in regulating the sulfur cycling under high-temperature conditions. The results of this study improve our understanding of microbial diversity and community composition in acidic to circumneutral terrestrial hot springs and their relationships with geochemical conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.
authors.forename: Qiuyuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hongchen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Brandon R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: Shang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Weiguo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Gaoyuan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Geng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ramonito
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Solis
authors.forename: Carlo A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Arcilla
authors.forename: Teofilo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abrajano
authors.forename: Hailiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D044822:Biodiversity; D019615:Crenarchaeota / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D045482:Hot Springs / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D010679:Philippines; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D016942:Sulfolobales / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D013455:Sulfur / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D013455:Sulfur
keywords: Philippines; biodiversity; hot springs; pyrosequencing; thermoacidophiles