Bacterial communities in the ‘petola' microbial mat from the Sečovlje salterns (Slovenia)

The Sečovlje saltern is one of the few remaining solar salterns for traditional, seasonal salt production. The bottom of the crystallizer ponds is covered with a microbial mat, known as the ‘petola', that has continuously been cultivated from medieval times. Outside the salt production season,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:FEMS microbiology ecology 2011, Vol.75 (1), p.48-62
Main Authors: Tkavc, Rok, Gostinčar, Cene, Turk, Martina, Visscher, Pieter T, Oren, Aharon, Gunde-Cimerman, Nina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Biodiversity
clone library
Cyanobacteria - classification
Cyanobacteria - genetics
DNA, Bacterial - genetics
Ecology
Gammaproteobacteria - classification
Gammaproteobacteria - genetics
Gene Library
microbial mats
Microbiology
Oxygen - analysis
petola
Phylogeny
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics
Saline water
Seasons
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sečovlje saltworks
Slovenia
Sodium Chloride
Sulfides - analysis
Water Microbiology
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Summary:The Sečovlje saltern is one of the few remaining solar salterns for traditional, seasonal salt production. The bottom of the crystallizer ponds is covered with a microbial mat, known as the ‘petola', that has continuously been cultivated from medieval times. Outside the salt production season, the petola is fertilized with anoxic marine mud and covered with saline water; during the season, it is covered by brine. Here, we have applied culture-independent techniques and microelectrode-based activity measurements to study the bacterial communities in three different layers of the petola during the peak of the harvesting season. For reference, we used nonactive petola that had been abandoned for several years. The upper 2 mm of the petola were dominated by the cyanobacterial species Coleofasciculus chthonoplastes and the Phormidium/Lyngbya group, and Gammaproteobacteria (Acinetobacter sp.), while the third anoxic layer was dominated by as yet uncultured phyla. The nonactive petola showed a higher biodiversity. Oxygen and sulfide concentrations differed between the mats studied, in terms of the depth of oxygen penetration and diel changes. This study provides the first molecular insight into the microbiology of the petola, and it represents an important contribution towards understanding the geomicrobiological cycles of the traditional Sečovlje saltern.
ISSN:0168-6496
1574-6941
DOI:10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00985.x