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Diversity of 16S rRNA gene, ITS region and aclB gene of the Aquificales

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Abstract

The Aquificales are prevalent members of the microbial communities inhabiting many marine and terrestrial hydrothermal systems. Numerous new strains were obtained from deep-sea and terrestrial hydrothermal systems. In order to resolve the phylogenetic relationships within this group, three different phylogenetic datasets were used, namely the 16S rRNA gene, the intergenic transcribed spacer region between the 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA genes (ITS) and the gene coding for the ATP citrate lyase (aclB), a key enzyme in the reductive TCA cycle. The data were analyzed using neighbor-joining, parsimony and maximum likelihood. The resulting phylogenies appeared to be consistent between the three markers. The three genes confirmed the presence of isolates that merit further characterization and descriptions as new species and perhaps even new genera. The detailed phylogenetic interrelationships of these isolates are described here.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Science Foundation grants to ALR PEET-DEB-0328326 and MCB-0084224. I. Ferrera was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Government (Programa MEC-Fulbright). We thank Ana Sittenfeld for help in collecting the sample from a hot spring at the Rincón Volcano, Pamela Chávez-Crooker for the collections in El Tatio (Chile) and the Kamchatka Microbial Observatory (MCB-0238407) and Diversa for assistance in collections in Kamchatka, Russia.

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  1. Biology Department, Portland State University, SB2-Rm246, 1719 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    I. Ferrera, S. Longhorn, A. B. Banta, Y. Liu, D. Preston & A.-L. Reysenbach

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  1. I. Ferrera
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  2. S. Longhorn
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  3. A. B. Banta
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  4. Y. Liu
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  5. D. Preston
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  6. A.-L. Reysenbach
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Correspondence to A.-L. Reysenbach.

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Communicated by A. Driessen.

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Ferrera, I., Longhorn, S., Banta, A.B. et al. Diversity of 16S rRNA gene, ITS region and aclB gene of the Aquificales . Extremophiles 11, 57–64 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-006-0009-2

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