title: Molecular Characterization of Aquatic Bacterial Communities in Dinaric Range Caves.
abstract: Dinaric limestone cave systems, recognized as a hotspot of subterranean biodiversity, inhabit composite microbial communities whose structure, function and importance to ecosystems was poorly considered until the last few years. Filamentous microbial biofilms from three caves in Dinaric karst were assessed using 16S rRNA-based phylogenetic approach combined with universally protein coding genes/proteins. Studied clone libraries shared divisions but phylogenetic distribution of the obtained phylotypes differed: in Veternica and Vjetrenica clone libraries, Nitrospirae prevailed with 36% and 60% respectively, while in Izvor Bistrac the most abundant were Alphaproteobacteria (41%) followed by Firmicutes (32%). Moreover, three phylotypes were associated with novel uncultured candidate divisions OP3, WS5 and OD1 revealing the diversity and uniqueness of the microbial world in caves. Deeply understanding subterranean habitats could elucidate many new aspects in phylogeny and evolution of microorganisms as well as animal taxa, adjacent to their energy suppliers in microbial communities and biofilms.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošsković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Bruna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pleše
authors.forename: Naris
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pojskić
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ozimec
authors.forename: Mirna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazija
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ćetković
authors.forename: Lada
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lukić-Bilela
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018441:Biofilms; D017522:Bosnia and Herzegovina; D059552:Caves / Q000382:microbiology*; D017523:Croatia; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005843:Geography; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S