Descripción del proyecto
ARCHAEA ARE A COMMON COMPONENT OF PROKARYOTIC FRESHWATER PLANKTON, BUT MOST HAVE BEEN UNKNOWN TO LIMNOLOGY UNTIL RECENTLY, ONLY AFTER THE APPLICATION OF MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES TO MICROBIAL ECOLOGY, THE VAST DIVERSITY AND POTENTIAL METABOLIC CAPABILITIES OF ARCHAEA HAVE BEEN ENVISAGED, REVEALING MESOPHILIC ARCHAEA AS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING CURRENT TOPICS IN MICROBIAL AQUATIC RESEARCH, UNFORTUNATELY, CULTIVATION HAS REMAINED ELUSIVE FOR MOST OF THESE ARCHAEAL GROUPS AND NEW STRATEGIES OF ENRICHMENT IN COMBINATION TO HIGH-RESOLUTION MOLECULAR TECHNOLOGIES, DETAILED BIOGEOCHEMICAL APPROACHES, AND POWERFUL BIOINFORMATIC TOOLS ARE NEEDED TO COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF UNCULTURED FRESHWATER ARCHAEA,STRATIFIED LAKES WITH SEASONAL OR PERMANENT ANOXIA CONSTITUTE INTERESTING HABITATS TO STUDY MICROBIAL ECOLOGY MAINLY BECAUSE THE DISTINCT WATER COMPARTMENTS DEFINED BY VERTICAL PHYSICO-CHEMICAL GRADIENTS HARBOUR HIGHLY DIVERSE AND METABOLICALLY VERSATILE MICROBIAL ASSEMBLAGES THAT PLAY DIFFERENT ROLES IN BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, PREVIOUS STUDIES CARRIED OUT IN SEVERAL STRATIFIED LAKES HAVE SHOWN THAT ARCHAEAL RICHNESS, ABUNDANCE AND ACTIVITY VARY BETWEEN OXIC, SUBOXIC, AND ANOXIC WATER LAYERS, INTERESTINGLY, THE ARCHAEAL GROUPS THRIVING IN THESE ENVIRONMENTS ARE PHYLOGENETICALLY DISTANT TO THOSE GROUPS PREVAILING IN OTHER FRESHWATER ENVIRONMENTS, E,G, HIGH MOUNTAIN LAKES; ALTHOUGH LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE FACTORS THAT ACCOUNT FOR THIS HABITAT SEGREGATION, WHEREAS IN OLIGOTROPHIC WATERS, EITHER MARINE OR FRESHWATER, CHEMOLITHOTROPHIC NITRIFIERS OF THE CRENARCHAEOTA 1,1A CLUSTER AND SEVERAL GROUPS OF UNCULTURED EURYARCHAEOTA ARE ABUNDANT, THE ARCHAEAL PLANKTONIC COMMUNITY IN MESO- AND EUTROPHIC STRATIFIED LAKES, ESPECIALLY IN THE ANOXIC WATER COMPARTMENT, IS DOMINATED BY PHYLOTYPES AFFILIATED TO THE MISCELLANEOUS CRENARCHAEOTA GROUP (MCG), RECENT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THESE ANOXIC WATER LAYERS CONSTITUTE AN UNEXPLORED SOURCE OF ARCHAEAL RICHNESS (79% AND 54% OF THE CRENARCHAEOTA AND THE EURYARCHAEOTA RECOVERED PHYLOTYPES, RESPECTIVELY), THE PROJECT ARCANOX IS THE CONTINUATION OF THE PREVIOUSLY FUNDED PROJECTS VIARC (2004-2006) AND CRENYC (2007-2009) AND IT FOCUSES ON THE POPULATION ECOLOGY, BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING, AND CULTIVATION OF THE PREVALENT GROUPS OF ARCHAEA THRIVING IN STRATIFIED KARSTIC LAKES: THE MCG AND THE DEEP SEA HYDROTHERMAL VENT EURYARCHAEOTA (DHVE), THE PROJECT IS AIMED TO DESCRIBE THE COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND SEASONAL DYNAMICS OF THESE GROUPS IN SEVERAL STRATIFIED LAKES OF THE BANYOLES LACUSTRINE AREA CHARACTERIZED BY AN ACTIVE SULFUR CYCLE BUT DIFFERING IN THEIR TROPHIC STATUS, BESIDES, THE CULTIVATION EFFORTS CARRIED OUT IN THE RECENT YEARS WILL BE CONTINUED TO INCREASE THE LOW CULTIVABILITY VALUES OF LACUSTRINE ARCHAEA, TO EXPLORE NEW STRATEGIES FOR THEIR ISOLATION AND TO RETRIEVE GENOMIC AND METABOLIC DATA FROM POSITIVE ENRICHMENTS, THE COMBINATION OF HIGH-RESOLUTION MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES, IN SITU INCUBATION STUDIES, AND OPTIMIZED CULTIVATION PROCEDURES ALLOW US TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN ACTIVE AND LATENT ARCHAEAL POPULATIONS ALONG VERTICAL PHYSICO-CHEMICAL GRADIENTS, AND IT WILL PROVIDE VALUABLE DATA TO EVALUATE THEIR IMPACT ON BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING, ARCHAEA LACUSTRES\BIODIVERSIDAD MICROBIANA\ECOLOGIA MICROBIANA\CICLOS BIOGEOQUIMICOS\MEROMIXIS\GENOMICA AMBIENTAL\TECNICAS DE CULTIVO