Bacterial Microbiota Associated with the Glacier Ice Worm Is Dominated by Both Worm-Specific and Glacier-Derived Facultative Lineages.

ABSTRACT: The community structure of bacteria associated with the glacier ice worm Mesenchytraeus solifugus was analyzed by amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and their transcripts. Ice worms were collected from two distinct glaciers in Alaska, Harding Icefield and Byron Glacier, and glacier surfaces were also sampled for comparison. Marked differences were observed in bacterial community structures between the ice worm and glacier surface samples. Several bacterial phylotypes were detected almost exclusively in the ice worms, and these bacteria were phylogenetically affiliated with either animal-associated lineages or, interestingly, clades mostly consisting of glacier-indigenous species. The former included bacteria that belong to Mollicutes, Chlamydiae, Rickettsiales, and Lachnospiraceae, whil

SUBMITTER: Murakami T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5371072 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature