This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow A correction has been published
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by González-Toril, E.
Right arrow Articles by Amils, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by González-Toril, E.
Right arrow Articles by Amils, R.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by González-Toril, E.
Right arrow Articles by Amils, R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2003, p. 4853-4865, Vol. 69, No. 8
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.8.4853-4865.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Microbial Ecology of an Extreme Acidic Environment, the Tinto River

E. González-Toril,1,2* E. Llobet-Brossa,3 E. O. Casamayor,3,{dagger} R. Amann,3 and R. Amils1,2

Centro de Biología Molecular (CSIC-UAM), E-28049 Cantoblanco,1 Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), E-28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain,2 Max Planck Institut for Marine Microbiology, D-28359 Bremen, Germany3

Received 2 December 2002/ Accepted 16 May 2003

The Tinto River (Huelva, southwestern Spain) is an extreme environment with a rather constant acidic pH along the entire river and a high concentration of heavy metals. The extreme conditions of the Tinto ecosystem are generated by the metabolic activity of chemolithotrophic microorganisms thriving in the rich complex sulfides of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Molecular ecology techniques were used to analyze the diversity of this microbial community. The community's composition was studied by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) using 16S rRNA and by 16S rRNA gene amplification. A good correlation between the two approaches was found. Comparative sequence analysis of DGGE bands showed the presence of organisms related to Leptospirillum spp., Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Acidiphilium spp., "Ferrimicrobium acidiphilum," Ferroplasma acidiphilum, and Thermoplasma acidophilum. The different phylogenetic groups were quantified by fluorescent in situ hybridization with a set of rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes. More than 80% of the cells were affiliated with the domain Bacteria, with only a minor fraction corresponding to Archaea. Members of Leptospirillum ferrooxidans, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, and Acidiphilium spp., all related to the iron cycle, accounted for most of the prokaryotic microorganisms detected. Different isolates of these microorganisms were obtained from the Tinto ecosystem, and their physiological properties were determined. Given the physicochemical characteristics of the habitat and the physiological properties and relative concentrations of the different prokaryotes found in the river, a model for the Tinto ecosystem based on the iron cycle is suggested.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centro de Biología Molecular (CSIC-UAM), Cantoblanco, Madrid 28049, Spain. Phone: 34 913 97 80 77. Fax: 34 913 97 80 87. E-mail: etoril{at}cbm.uam.es.

{dagger} Present address: Unidad de Limnología, Departamento de Biogeoquímica Acuática, Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes—CSIC, E-17300 Blanes, Spain.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2003, p. 4853-4865, Vol. 69, No. 8
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.8.4853-4865.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Valdes, J., Quatrini, R., Hallberg, K., Dopson, M., Valenzuela, P. D. T., Holmes, D. S. (2009). Draft Genome Sequence of the Extremely Acidophilic Bacterium Acidithiobacillus caldus ATCC 51756 Reveals Metabolic Versatility in the Genus Acidithiobacillus. J. Bacteriol. 191: 5877-5878 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Johnson, D. B., Bacelar-Nicolau, P., Okibe, N., Thomas, A., Hallberg, K. B. (2009). Ferrimicrobium acidiphilum gen. nov., sp. nov. and Ferrithrix thermotolerans gen. nov., sp. nov.: heterotrophic, iron-oxidizing, extremely acidophilic actinobacteria. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 59: 1082-1089 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Heinzel, E., Hedrich, S., Janneck, E., Glombitza, F., Seifert, J., Schlomann, M. (2009). Bacterial Diversity in a Mine Water Treatment Plant. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 858-861 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kock, D., Schippers, A. (2008). Quantitative Microbial Community Analysis of Three Different Sulfidic Mine Tailing Dumps Generating Acid Mine Drainage. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5211-5219 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Onofri, S., Barreca, D., Selbmann, L., Isola, D., Rabbow, E., Horneck, G., de Vera, J.P.P., Hatton, J., Zucconi, L. (2008). Resistance of Antarctic black fungi and cryptoendolithic communities to simulated space and Martian conditions.. SIM 61: 99-109 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mirete, S., de Figueras, C. G., Gonzalez-Pastor, J. E. (2007). Novel Nickel Resistance Genes from the Rhizosphere Metagenome of Plants Adapted to Acid Mine Drainage. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6001-6011 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sanchez Espana, J., Santofimia Pastor, E., Lopez Pamo, E. (2007). Iron terraces in acid mine drainage systems: A discussion about the organic and inorganic factors involved in their formation through observations from the Tintillo acidic river (Riotinto mine, Huelva, Spain). Geosphere 3: 133-151 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Aguilera, A., Manrubia, S. C., Gomez, F., Rodriguez, N., Amils, R. (2006). Eukaryotic Community Distribution and Its Relationship to Water Physicochemical Parameters in an Extreme Acidic Environment, Rio Tinto (Southwestern Spain). Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 5325-5330 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hallberg, K. B., Coupland, K., Kimura, S., Johnson, D. B. (2006). Macroscopic streamer growths in acidic, metal-rich mine waters in north wales consist of novel and remarkably simple bacterial communities.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 2022-2030 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Boston, P. J., Hose, L. D., Northup, D. E., Spilde, M. N. (2006). The microbial communities of sulfur caves: A newly appreciated geologically driven system on Earth and potential model for Mars. Geological Society of America Special Papers 404: 331-344 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Grostern, A., Edwards, E. A. (2006). Growth of Dehalobacter and Dehalococcoides spp. during Degradation of Chlorinated Ethanes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 428-436 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dopson, M., Baker-Austin, C., Bond, P. L. (2005). Analysis of differential protein expression during growth states of Ferroplasma strains and insights into electron transport for iron oxidation. Microbiology 151: 4127-4137 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Coram, N. J., van Zyl, L. J., Rawlings, D. E. (2005). Isolation, Sequence Analysis, and Comparison of Two Plasmids (28 and 29 Kilobases) from the Biomining Bacterium Leptospirillum ferrooxidans ATCC 49879. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 7515-7522 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hamamura, N., Olson, S. H., Ward, D. M., Inskeep, W. P. (2005). Diversity and Functional Analysis of Bacterial Communities Associated with Natural Hydrocarbon Seeps in Acidic Soils at Rainbow Springs, Yellowstone National Park. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 5943-5950 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lawrence, J. R., Chenier, M. R., Roy, R., Beaumier, D., Fortin, N., Swerhone, G. D. W., Neu, T. R., Greer, C. W. (2004). Microscale and Molecular Assessment of Impacts of Nickel, Nutrients, and Oxygen Level on Structure and Function of River Biofilm Communities. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 4326-4339 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Futterer, O., Angelov, A., Liesegang, H., Gottschalk, G., Schleper, C., Schepers, B., Dock, C., Antranikian, G., Liebl, W. (2004). Genome sequence of Picrophilus torridus and its implications for life around pH 0. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 9091-9096 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»