Phylogenetic diversity of soda lake alkaliphiles

TLDR

16S rRNA genes from diverse aerobic chemoorganotrophic alkaliphilic bacteria and archaea in soda lakes were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. Gram‑negative alkaliphiles were confined to the γ3 subdivision of Proteobacteria, mainly related to Halomonas/Deleya, while Gram‑positive alkaliphiles spanned high‑ and low‑G+C groups related to Bacillus and Arthrobacter; alkaliphilic archaea clustered with Natronococcus and Natronobacterium, and an anaerobic thermophilic isolate was assigned to a new Thermotogales genus.

Abstract

16S rRNA genes from a range of aerobic chemoorganotrophic, alkaliphilic soda lake Bacteria and Archaea have been sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. Gram-negative alkaliphiles were found to be confined to the γ3 subdivision of the Proteobacteria, with many isolates related to the Halomonas/Deleya group. Gram-positive alkaliphiles were found in both high % G + C and low % G + C divisions of the Gram-positive lineage, with many isolates being related to the Bacillus group, others to Arthrobacter spp. Alkaliphilic Archaea were relatively closely related to members of the genera Natronococcus and Natronobacterium. An anaerobic, thermophilic isolate has been assigned to a new genus within the Thermotogales.