High Microbial Diversity Despite Extremely Low Biomass in a Deep Karst Aquifer.

ABSTRACT: Despite the importance of karst aquifers as a source of drinking water, little is known about the role of microorganisms in maintaining the quality of this water. One of the limitations in exploring the microbiology of these environments is access, which is usually limited to wells and surface springs. In this study, we compared the microbiology of the Madison karst aquifer sampled via the potentiometric lakes of Wind Cave with surface sampling wells and a spring. Our data indicated that only the Streeter Well (STR), which is drilled into the same hydrogeologic domain as the Wind Cave Lakes (WCL), allowed access to water with the same low biomass (1.56-9.25 × 10³ cells mL^-1). Filtration of ∼300 L of water from both of these sites through a 0.2 μm filter allowed the co

SUBMITTER: Hershey OS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6275181 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature