Connectivity of bacterial assemblages along the Loa River in the Atacama Desert, Chile.

ABSTRACT: The Loa River is the only perennial artery that crosses the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. It plays an important role in the ecological and economic development of the most water-stressed region, revealing the impact of the mining industry, which exacerbate regional water shortages for many organisms and ecological processes. Despite this, the river system has remained understudied. To our knowledge, this study provides the first effort to attempt to compare the microbial communities at spatial scale along the Loa River, as well as investigate the physicochemical factors that could modulate this important biological component that still remains largely unexplored. The analysis of the spatial bacterial distribution and their interconnections in the water column and sediment samples from

SUBMITTER: Zarate A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7533063 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature