Analysis of intergenic spacer region length polymorphisms to investigate the halophilic archaeal diversity of stromatolites and microbial mats

• Published in: Extremophiles : life under extreme conditions Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 203 - 210
• Main Authors: Leuko, S, Goh, F, Allen, M. A, Burns, B. P, Walter, M. R, Neilan, B. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Tokyo : Springer-Verlag 01.01.2007; Tokyo Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Archaea; Archaea - genetics; ARISA; Bacteria; Biological and medical sciences; Cloning; Cloning, Molecular; Diversity; DNA Primers; DNA, Archaeal; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; Ecosystem; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic Variation; Geologic Sediments - microbiology; Hypersaline environment; Intergenic spacer region; Marine; Microbial ecology; Phylogeny; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Polymorphism, Genetic; Seawater - microbiology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Shark Bay; Space life sciences; Stromatolites; Various environments (extraatmospheric space, air, water); Western Australia; Australia; Oceania; Western Australia; ISW, Australia, Western Australia, Hamelin Pool; Australia, Western Australia; Australia, Western Australia, Hamelin Pool; Archaeobacteria; Diversity; Environmental factor; Salinity; Hypersaline environment; Marine environment; Aquatic environment; Species diversity; Vertebrata; Halophily; Stromatolites· Intergenic spacer region; Pisces; Microbial mat; Bacteria; Environment; Chondrichthyes; ARISA; Extreme environment; Shark Bay; Polymorphism
• ISSN: 1431-0651; 1433-4909
• DOI: 10.1007/s00792-006-0028-z

Hamelin Pool in Western Australia is one of the two major sites in the world with active marine stromatolite formation. Surrounded by living smooth and pustular mats, these ancient laminated structures are associated with cyanobacterial communities. Recent studies have identified a wide diversity of bacteria and archaea in this habitat. By understanding and evaluating the microbial diversity of this environment we can obtain insights into the formation of early life on Earth, as stromatolites have been dated in the geological record as far back as 3.5 billion years. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) patterns were shown to be a useful method to genetically discriminate halophilic archaea within this environment. Patterns of known halophilic archaea are consistent, by replicate analysis, and the halophilic strains isolated from stromatolites have novel intergenic spacer profiles. ARISA-PCR, performed directly on extracted DNA from different sample sites, provided significant insights into the extent of previous unknown diversity of halophilic archaea within this environment. Cloning and sequence analysis of the spacer regions obtained from stromatolites confirmed the novel and broad diversity of halophilic archaea in this environment.