Macroscopic streamer growths in acidic, metal-rich mine waters in north wales consist of novel and remarkably simple bacterial communities.

ABSTRACT: The microbial composition of acid streamers (macroscopic biofilms) in acidic, metal-rich waters in two locations (an abandoned copper mine and a chalybeate spa) in north Wales was studied using cultivation-based and biomolecular techniques. Known chemolithotrophic and heterotrophic acidophiles were readily isolated from disrupted streamers, but they accounted for only <1 to 7% of the total microorganisms present. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) revealed that 80 to 90% of the microbes in both types of streamers were beta-Proteobacteria. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the streamers suggested that a single bacterial species was dominant in the copper mine streamers, while two distinct bacteria (one of which was identical to the bacterium found in the co

SUBMITTER: Hallberg KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1393227 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature