Metagenomic and Metatranscriptomic Study of Microbial Metal Resistance in an Acidic Pit Lake.

ABSTRACT: Cueva de la Mora (CM) is an acidic, meromictic pit lake in the Iberian Pyrite Belt characterized by extremely high metal(loid) concentrations and strong gradients in oxygen, metal, and nutrient concentrations. We hypothesized that geochemical variations with depth would result in differences in community composition and in metal resistance strategies among active microbial populations. We also hypothesized that metal resistance gene (MRG) expression would correlate with toxicity levels for dissolved metal species in the lake. Water samples were collected in the upper oxic layer, chemocline, and deep anoxic layer of the lake for shotgun metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing. Metagenomic analyses revealed dramatic differences in the composition of the microbial communities with depth

SUBMITTER: Ayala-Munoz D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7563247 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature