title: Soda pans of the Pannonian steppe harbor unique bacterial communities adapted to multiple extreme conditions.
abstract: Soda pans of the Pannonian steppe are unique environments regarding their physical and chemical characteristics: shallowness, high turbidity, intermittent character, alkaline pH, polyhumic organic carbon concentration, hypertrophic condition, moderately high salinity, sodium and carbonate ion dominance. The pans are highly productive environments with picophytoplankton predominance. Little is known about the planktonic bacterial communities inhabiting these aquatic habitats; therefore, amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics were applied to reveal their composition and functional properties. Results showed a taxonomically complex bacterial community which was distinct from other soda lakes regarding its composition, e.g. the dominance of class Alphaproteobacteria was observed within phylum Proteobacteria. The shotgun metagenomic analysis revealed several functional gene components related to the harsh and at the same time hypertrophic environmental conditions, e.g. proteins involved in stress response, transport and hydrolase systems targeting phytoplankton-derived organic matter. This is the first detailed report on the indigenous planktonic bacterial communities coping with the multiple extreme conditions present in the unique soda pans of the Pannonian steppe.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Kristóf
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Korponai
authors.affiliation: Institute for Computer Science and Control, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA SZTAKI), Kende u. 13-17, 1111, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kerepesi
authors.affiliation: MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Balaton Limnological Institute, Klebelsberg Kunó u. 3, 8237, Tihany, Hungary.
authors.forename: Boglárka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Somogyi
authors.affiliation: MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Balaton Limnological Institute, Klebelsberg Kunó u. 3, 8237, Tihany, Hungary.
authors.forename: Lajos
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vörös
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungária krt. 21, 1143, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Dániel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bartha
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Károly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Márialigeti
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary. tamas.felfoldi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Felföldi
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D020561:Alphaproteobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000071251:Extreme Environments; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D054892:Metagenome; D064307:Microbiota; D009997:Osmotic Pressure
keywords: Bacterial community composition; Environmental stress; High turbidity; Metagenomics; Osmoadaptation; Soda pan