Microbial ecology of El Tatio terrestrial hot springs: metatranscriptomes
Phototrophic microbial mats in high-altitude geothermal springs represent tractable models for studying the interplay between temperature, community composition, and biogeochemical cycling. This project aimed to characterize the taxonomic composition, metabolic potential, and transcriptional activity of microbial and viral communities across a thermal gradient at the El Tatio geothermal field (4,320 m a.s.l., Chilean Andes). This dataset comprises 16 metatranscriptomic libraries across 13 hot springs spanning a 45-62 C temperature gradient, further analyzed along with 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, shotgun metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and viromics, . Key findings reveal a tightly coupled metabolic network dominated by photomixotrophic Chloroflexota and Cyanobacteriota, with nitrogen and sulfur cycling partitioned across Bacteroidota and Armatimonadota, alongside transcriptionally active lytic and lysogenic viruses, collectively reflecting temperature-driven metabolic specialization, trophic interactions, and biogeochemical cycling.