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Lange-Enyedi NT, Németh P, Borsodi AK, Spötl C, Makk J. Calcium carbonate precipitating extremophilic bacteria in an Alpine ice cave. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2710. [PMID: 38302670 PMCID: PMC10834452 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53131-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Extensive research has provided a wealth of data on prokaryotes in caves and their role in biogeochemical cycles. Ice caves in carbonate rocks, however, remain enigmatic environments with limited knowledge of their microbial taxonomic composition. In this study, bacterial and archaeal communities of the Obstans Ice Cave (Carnic Alps, Southern Austria) were analyzed by next-generation amplicon sequencing and by cultivation of bacterial strains at 10 °C and studying their metabolism. The most abundant bacterial taxa were uncultured Burkholderiaceae and Brevundimonas spp. in the drip water, Flavobacterium, Alkanindiges and Polaromonas spp. in the ice, Pseudonocardia, Blastocatella spp., uncultured Pyrinomonadaceae and Sphingomonadaceae in carbonate precipitates, and uncultured Gemmatimonadaceae and Longimicrobiaceae in clastic cave sediments. These taxa are psychrotolerant/psychrophilic and chemoorganotrophic bacteria. On a medium with Mg2+/Ca2+ = 1 at 21 °C and 10 °C, 65% and 35% of the cultivated strains precipitated carbonates, respectively. The first ~ 200 µm-size crystals appeared 2 and 6 weeks after the start of the cultivation experiments at 21 °C and 10 °C, respectively. The crystal structure of these microbially induced carbonate precipitates and their Mg-content are strongly influenced by the Mg2+/Ca2+ ratio of the culture medium. These results suggest that the high diversity of prokaryotic communities detected in cryogenic subsurface environments actively contributes to carbonate precipitation, despite living at the physical limit of the presence of liquid water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nóra Tünde Lange-Enyedi
- Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research, HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budaörsi út 45, Budapest, 1112, Hungary
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Science, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
| | - Péter Németh
- Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research, HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budaörsi út 45, Budapest, 1112, Hungary.
- Research Institute of Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering, Nanolab, University of Pannonia, Egyetem út 10, Veszprém, 8200, Hungary.
| | - Andrea K Borsodi
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Science, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
- Institute of Aquatic Ecology, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Karolina út 29, Budapest, 1113, Hungary
| | - Christoph Spötl
- Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Judit Makk
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Science, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
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