Phylogenetic Diversity of Archaea in Shallow Hydrothermal Vents of Eolian Islands, Italy
Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, Research Centre for Extreme Environments and Extremophiles, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy
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Diversity 2019, 11(9), 156; https://doi.org/10.3390/d11090156
Received: 16 July 2019 / Accepted: 3 September 2019 / Published: 5 September 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Diversity in Extreme Environments: Implications for Ecological and Applicative Perspectives)
Shallow hydrothermal systems (SHS) around the Eolian Islands (Italy), related to both active and extinct volcanism, are characterized by high temperatures, high concentrations of CO2 and H2S, and low pH, prohibitive for the majority of eukaryotes which are less tolerant to the extreme conditions than prokaryotes. Archaea and bacteria are the key elements for the functioning of these ecosystems, as they are involved in the transformation of inorganic compounds released from the vent emissions and are at the basis of the hydrothermal system food web. New extremophilic archaea (thermophilic, hyperthermophilic, acidophilic, alkalophilic, etc.) have been isolated from vents of Vulcano Island, exhibiting interesting features potentially valuable in biotechnology. Metagenomic analyses, which mainly involved molecular studies of the 16S rRNA gene, provided different insights into microbial composition associated with Eolian SHS. Archaeal community composition at Eolian vent sites results greatly affected by the geochemistry of the studied vents, principally by hypersaline conditions and declining temperatures. Archaeal community in sediments was mostly composed by hyperthermophilic members of Crenarchaeota (class Thermoprotei) and Euryarchaeota (Thermococci and Methanococci) at the highest temperature condition. Mesophilic Euryarchaeota (Halobacteria, Methanomicrobia, and Methanobacteria) increased with decreasing temperatures. Eolian SHS harbor a high diversity of largely unknown archaea, and the studied vents may be an important source of new isolates potentially useful for biotechnological purposes.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Gugliandolo, C.; Maugeri, T.L. Phylogenetic Diversity of Archaea in Shallow Hydrothermal Vents of Eolian Islands, Italy. Diversity 2019, 11, 156. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11090156
AMA Style
Gugliandolo C, Maugeri TL. Phylogenetic Diversity of Archaea in Shallow Hydrothermal Vents of Eolian Islands, Italy. Diversity. 2019; 11(9):156. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11090156
Chicago/Turabian StyleGugliandolo, Concetta; Maugeri, Teresa L. 2019. "Phylogenetic Diversity of Archaea in Shallow Hydrothermal Vents of Eolian Islands, Italy" Diversity 11, no. 9: 156. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11090156
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