Metataxonomy and pigments analyses unravel microbial diversity and the relevance of retinal-based photoheterotrophy at different salinities in the Odiel Salterns (SW, Spain)
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Gómez-Villegas, Patricia; Pérez-Rodríguez, Miguel; Porres Foulquie, Jesús María; Prados Salazar, José Carlos; Melguizo Alonso, Consolación; Vigara, Javier; Moreno-Garrido, Ignacio; León, RosaEditorial
Elsevier
Materia
Brines Halophiles Pigments
Fecha
2024-10-22Referencia bibliográfica
Gómez Villegas, P. et. al. B: Biology 260 (2024) 113043. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2024.113043]
Patrocinador
MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, ERDF/EU (research grant PID2022-140995OB-C21); Research Project for Young Sea Researchers (CEIMAR-2022); Universidad de Huelva / CBUAResumen
Salinity has a strong influence on microorganisms distribution patterns and consequently on the relevance of
photoheterotrophic metabolism, which since the discovery of proteorhodopsins is considered the main
contributor to solar energy capture on the surface of the oceans. Solar salterns constitute an exceptional system
for the simultaneous study of several salt concentrations, ranging from seawater, the most abundant environment
on Earth, to saturated brine, one of the most extreme, which has been scarcely studied. In this study, pigment
composition across the salinity gradient has been analyzed by spectrophotometry and RP-HPLC, and the influence
of salinity on microbial diversity of the three domains of life has been evaluated by a metataxonomic study
targeting hypervariable regions of 16S and 18S rRNA genes. Furthermore, based on the chlorophyll a and retinal
content, we have estimated the relative abundance of rhodopsins and photosynthetic reaction centers,
concluding that there is a strong correlation between the retinal/chlorophyll a ratio and salinity. Retinal-based
photoheterotrophy is particularly important for prokaryotic survival in hypersaline environments, surpassing the
sunlight energy captured by photosynthesis, and being more relevant as salinity increases. This fact has implications
for understanding the survival of microorganisms in extreme conditions and the energy dynamics in solar
salter ponds.