Streptomyces aridus sp. nov., isolated from a high altitude Atacama Desert soil and emended description of Streptomyces noboritoensis Isono et al. 1957

The taxonomic status of a Nocardiopsis strain, designated H13T, isolated from a high altitude Atacama Desert soil, was established by using a polyphasic approach. The strain was found to have chemotaxonomic, cultural and morphological characteristics consistent with its classification within the genus Nocardiopsis and formed a well-supported clade in the Nocardiopsis phylogenomic tree together with the type strains of Nocardiopsis alborubida , Nocardiopsis dassonvillei and Nocardiopsis synnematoformans. Strain H13T was distinguished from its closest relatives by low average nucleotide identity (93.2–94.9 %) and in silico DNA–DNA hybridization (52.5–62.4 %) values calculated from draft genome assemblies and by a range of phenotypic properties. On the basis of these results, it is proposed that the isolate be assigned to the genus Nocardiopsis as Nocardiopsis deserti sp. nov. with isolate H13T (=CGMCC 4.7585T=KCTC 49249T) as the type strain.

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Physicochemical Parameters Affecting the Distribution and Diversity of the Water Column Microbial Community in the High-Altitude Andean Lake System of La Brava and La Punta

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms8081181 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 1181

Author(s):

Reynaldo Núñez Salazar ◽

Carlos Aguirre ◽

Jorge Soto ◽

Pamela Salinas ◽

Carlos Salinas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

High Altitude ◽

Water Column ◽

Physicochemical Parameters ◽

Microbial Community Composition ◽

Atacama Desert ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

16S Rrna Gene Analysis ◽

Lake System ◽

Influence Of Water

Due to the low incidence of precipitation attributed to climate change, many high-altitude Andean lakes (HAALs) and lagoons distributed along the central Andes in South America may soon disappear. This includes La Brava–La Punta, a brackish lake system located south of the Salar de Atacama within a hyper-arid and halophytic biome in the Atacama Desert. Variations in the physicochemical parameters of the water column can induce changes in microbial community composition, which we aimed to determine. Sixteen sampling points across La Brava–La Punta were studied to assess the influence of water physicochemical properties on the aquatic microbial community, determined via 16S rRNA gene analysis. Parameters such as pH and the concentrations of silica, magnesium, calcium, salinity, and dissolved oxygen showed a more homogenous pattern in La Punta samples, whereas those from La Brava had greater variability; pH and total silica were significantly different between La Brava and La Punta. The predominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. The genera Psychroflexus (36.85%), Thiomicrospira (12.48%), and Pseudomonas (7.81%) were more abundant in La Brava, while Pseudospirillum (20.73%) and Roseovarius (17.20%) were more abundant in La Punta. Among the parameters, pH was the only statistically significant factor influencing the diversity within La Brava lake. These results complement the known microbial diversity and composition in the HAALs of the Atacama Desert.

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Identifying water availability in the Atacama Desert (Chile) by triple oxygen isotope analyses of sulfates

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18698 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Swea Klipsch ◽

Daniel Herwartz ◽

Michael Staubwasser

Keyword(s):

Oxygen Isotope ◽

Water Availability ◽

Isotope Composition ◽

Atacama Desert ◽

Soil Surface ◽

Desert Soil ◽

Sea Spray ◽

Alluvial Fans ◽

Coastal Cordillera ◽

Silver Sulfate

Ca-Sulfates (Gypsum and Anhydrite) are the most common salts accumulating in the soil of the Chilean Atacama Desert. Sulfate sources include sea spray, redeposition of playa sediments, terrestrial weathering, and deposition of sulfate formed in the atmosphere (secondary atmospheric sulfate = SAS). Sulfate from sea spray, playa lakes, and terrestrial weathering have a triple oxygen isotope composition (&#916;17OSO4) at or slightly below zero reflecting reaction with water and oxygen. Positive &#916;17OSO4 are generally the result of atmospheric SO2 oxidation by ozone or hydrogen peroxide. Sulfate oxygen is only altered with ambient water by cycling through biological activity resulting in &#916;17OSO4 &#8776; 0&#8240;. Therefore, &#916;17OSO4 aids in quantifying the relative contribution of SAS to the desert soil and in identifying bioactivity and water availability in the hyperarid Atacama Desert. The spatial quantification of different sulfate sources may serve to improve the understanding of sulfate deposition in this region.Samples were analysed by continuous flow IRMS using the pyrolysis of Ag2SO4 to determine &#916;17OSO4 from O2. An optimized sample preparation to form clean silver sulfate and intra-day calibration against two in-house standards resulted in an external reproducibility of 0.12&#8240;. An inter laboratory comparison including data derived from the laser-fluorination method confirmed the accuracy of our analyses.We analyzed desert soil surface samples from four E-W transects in the Atacama Desert reaching from the Pacific coast across the Coastal Cordillera, the Central Depression, and up the alluvial fans protruding from the Pre-Andean Cordillera. Transects begin at Pisagua (19.5&#176;S), Salar Grande (21.0&#176;S), Antofagasta (24.0&#176;S), and Paposo (25.0&#176;S). Values of &#916;17OSO4 vary between 0.3 and 1.1&#8240;. The lowest &#916;17OSO4 values were measured near Salar Grande and on the Pre-Andean alluvial fans. The highest &#916;17OSO4 values are observed at the highest altitudes in the Coastal Cordillera - east of Paposo - well above the coastal fog zone (> 1200 m). At similar or higher altitudes on the Pre-Andean fans, &#916;17OSO4 converge towards zero.The spatial distribution is the result of source contributions and subsequent biological reset. Positive &#916;17OSO4 values throughout suggest a significant contribution from SAS. We quantified sea spray contributions using Cl-&#160;concentration, which drop dramatically above the fog-zone [1]. Furthermore, salt distribution suggests minimal weathering and redistribution in recent times. The lowest contribution from such near zero &#916;17OSO4 sulfate sources are expected in the Coastal Cordillera, which is consistent with our data. Within the Coastal Cordillera there is a north to south &#916;17OSO4 trend, which is also an elevation trend. Increased water availability from fog at lower elevations facilitates more efficient resetting of &#916;17OSO4 via microbial activity. These observations suggest that the driest place in the Atacama Desert is situated within the Coastal Cordillera above the fog zone.[1] Voigt et al. (2020) Global and Planetary Change 184

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Butterflies of the high-altitude Atacama Desert: habitat use and conservation

Frontiers in Genetics ◽

10.3389/fgene.2014.00334 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Emma Despland

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

High Altitude ◽

Atacama Desert ◽

Desert Habitat

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Bacterial diversity and occurrence of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the Atacama Desert soil during a “desert bloom” event

Soil Biology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.03.025 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 42 (7) ◽

pp. 1183-1188 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Julieta Orlando ◽

Marco Alfaro ◽

Lorena Bravo ◽

Rafael Guevara ◽

Margarita Carú

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Diversity ◽

Atacama Desert ◽

Desert Soil ◽

Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria

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Actinophytocola gilvus sp. nov., isolated from desert soil crusts, and emended description of the genus Actinophytocola Indananda et al. 2010

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY ◽

10.1099/ijs.0.061051-0 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 64 (Pt_9) ◽

pp. 3120-3125 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Hong-Min Sun ◽

Tao Zhang ◽

Li-Yan Yu ◽

Xin-Xin Lu ◽

Xiao-Zhen Mou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

16S Rrna ◽

16S Rrna Gene ◽

Type Species ◽

Desert Soil ◽

Diaminopimelic Acid ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Content Type ◽

North West ◽

Link Type ◽

Emended Description

An actinomycete strain, designated I12A-02593T, was isolated from a desert soil crust sample collected in the Shapotou region of Tengger Desert, north-west China. The isolate grew well on International Streptomyces Project (ISP) media 2, 3, 5 and 7, YS and Bennett’s agar; it produced spherical bodies and formed clumps on the aerial mycelia on ISP 5 agar plates. Chemotaxonomically, the strain contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid, arabinose and galactose as the diagnostic sugars in whole-cell hydrolysates, MK-9(H4) as the sole isoprenoid quinone, and iso-C16 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 2-OH and iso-C16 : 1 H as the major cellular fatty acids, without mycolic acids. The profile of the phospholipids mainly comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and hydroxyphosphatidylethanolamine. The genomic DNA G+C content was 70.1 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain I12A-02593T exhibited 96.4–97.4 % similarities with members of the genus Actinophytocola . In the phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the isolate formed a robust cluster with Actinophytocola oryzae NBRC 105245T, Aactinophytocola timorensis NBRC 105524T, Actinophytocola corallina NBRC 105525T, Actinophytocola burenkhanensis NBRC 105883Tand Actinophytocola xinjiangensis NBRC 106673T. DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain I12A-02593T and the five species of the genus Actinophytocola were all less than 70 %. On the basis of the polyphasic taxonomy evidence, a novel species of the genus Actinophytocola is proposed, with the name Actinophytocola gilvus sp. nov. The type strain is I12A-02593T ( = CPCC 203543T = DSM 45828T = NBRC 109453T = KCTC 29165T). An emended description of the genus Actinophytocola is also provided.

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Atacama Desert Soil Microbiology

Soil Biology - Microbiology of Extreme Soils ◽

10.1007/978-3-540-74231-9_6 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 117-132 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Benito Gómez-Silva ◽

Fred A. Rainey ◽

Kimberley A. Warren-Rhodes ◽

Christopher P. McKay ◽

Rafael Navarro-González

Keyword(s):

Atacama Desert ◽

Soil Microbiology ◽

Desert Soil

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