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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Ecol. Evol.
Sec. Ecophysiology
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fevo.2024.1412124

Biodiversity and poten al func onality of biofilmsediment biotope in La Muerte lagoon, Monegros desert, Spain

Provisionally accepted
Mercedes Berlanga Mercedes Berlanga 1,2*Pere Picart Pere Picart 2Arnau Blasco Arnau Blasco 3Robert Benaiges-Fernandez Robert Benaiges-Fernandez 4Ricardo Guerrero Ricardo Guerrero 2Andrea Butturini Andrea Butturini 3Jordi Urmeneta Jordi Urmeneta 4
  • 1 University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • 2 Department of Biology, Healthcare and the Environment, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • 3 Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • 4 Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    La Muerte lagoon is an ephemeral endorheic water body located in the Monegros desert, Zaragoza, Spain. Amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was performed to analyze the bacterial and archaeal communi es in biofilmsediment samples over three years, to understand the dynamic changes in the microbial community. The dominant bacterial phyla were Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, Cyanobacteriota, and Pseudomonadota, while Halobacteriota was the predominant archaeal phylum. Despite seasonal environmental fluctuations, the biofilm community remained stable over time, suggesting resilience. PICRUSt and shotgun metagenomics were used to examine energy produc on and carbohydrate metabolism pathways. Analysis showed the CalvinBenson cycle was the main carbon fixation pathway, carried out by Cyanobacteria and purple nonsulfur bacteria. Nitrogen fixation by diazotrophs supplied an important nitrogen source.Organic carbon was derived primarily from autotrophs, with little use of allochthonous plant material. The comparison of biofilmsediment and water column biotopes showed dis nct but related prokaryote communi es. Biofilmsediments showed higher taxonomic diversity and different propor ons of microbial phyla compared to the water column. This study provides ini al insights into the complex microbial life in

    Keywords: Endorheic saline lagoons, Bacterial community diversity, bacterial community functionality, biofilm-sediment biotope, water column biotope

    Received: 04 Apr 2024; Accepted: 10 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Berlanga, Picart, Blasco, Benaiges-Fernandez, Guerrero, Butturini and Urmeneta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mercedes Berlanga, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

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