hrvatski

Microbial diversity in Adriatic anchialine caves

Background: Anchialine caves can be defined as tidally-influenced subterranean estuary located within crevicular and cavernous karst and volcanic terrains that extends inland to the limit of seawater penetration. The anchialine ecosystem supports a diverse biotic assemblage predominantly comprising stygobiotic species of marine origin, many of which are members of higher taxa that are endemic to anchialine habitats and are distinct from those in contiguous limnic and marine waters. This subterranean estuary is dynamic in that it is affected by marine tides ; however, dampened tidal fluctuations and isolation from atmospheric turbulent mixing typically yield sharp physical and chemical stratification between the marine and meteoric waters. The anchialine system merges with the marine system at the coast and fresh groundwater inland. There is very little information on the microbial diversity in these specific ecosystems. Objectives: The objective of this research is to give a insight on the microbial diversity in the anchialine caves using a sequencing approach. Methods: Four caves were selected for the analysis at three depths (surface, halocline, saline waters). DNA was extracted and the sequencing of the 16S and 18S were performed at the Illumina platform. Bioinformatic tools were applied for the analysis. Results: Proteobacteria were the dominant bacterial group in almost all samples, followed by the Firimicutes and Actinobacteria. Alpha, delta and gammaproteobacterial dominated the protebacterial group. Microeukaryotic population is determined by cave and is dominated by Malasseziaceae, Oxyrhinaceceae, Cyclidiidae and Paraphysomonadaceae. A cave specific microbial could be identified in the investigated samples.

bacteria ; eukaryotes ; NGS ; Anchialine caves

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