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Thermophilic prokaryotic communities inhabiting the biofilm and well water of a thermal karst system located in Budapest (Hungary)

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Abstract

In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic approach were applied to reveal the morphological structure and genetic diversity of thermophilic prokaryotic communities of a thermal karst well located in Budapest (Hungary). Bacterial and archaeal diversity of the well water (73.7 °C) and the biofilm developed on the inner surface of an outflow pipeline of the well were studied by molecular cloning method. According to the SEM images calcium carbonate minerals serve as a surface for colonization of bacterial aggregates. The vast majority of the bacterial and archaeal clones showed the highest sequence similarities to chemolithoautotrophic species. The bacterial clone libraries were dominated by sulfur oxidizer Thiobacillus (Betaproteobacteria) in the water and Sulfurihydrogenibium (Aquificae) in the biofilm. A relatively high proportion of molecular clones represented genera Thermus and Bellilinea in the biofilm library. The most abundant phylotypes both in water and biofilm archaeal clone libraries were closely related to thermophilic ammonia oxidizer Nitrosocaldus and Nitrososphaera but phylotypes belonging to methanogens were also detected. The results show that in addition to the bacterial sulfur and hydrogen oxidation, mainly archaeal ammonia oxidation may play a decisive role in the studied thermal karst system.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA) Grant NK101356. We gratefully acknowledge the help of Dr. Éva Ács (MTA, Danube Research Institute) in the electron microscopic examinations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary

    Dóra Anda, Judit Makk, Gergely Krett, Laura Jurecska, Károly Márialigeti & Andrea K. Borsodi

  2. Department of Physical and Applied Geology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, Budapest, 1117, Hungary

    Judit Mádl-Szőnyi

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  1. Dóra Anda
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  2. Judit Makk
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  3. Gergely Krett
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  4. Laura Jurecska
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  5. Károly Márialigeti
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  6. Judit Mádl-Szőnyi
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Correspondence to Andrea K. Borsodi.

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Anda, D., Makk, J., Krett, G. et al. Thermophilic prokaryotic communities inhabiting the biofilm and well water of a thermal karst system located in Budapest (Hungary). Extremophiles 19, 787–797 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-015-0754-1

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