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Microbial communities and processes within a hypersaline gypsum crust in a saltern evaporation pond (Eilat, Israel)

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Abstract

Gypsum crusts containing multicolored, stratified microbial communities develop in the evaporation ponds of a commercial saltern in Eilat, Israel at salt concentrations between 190 and 240 g l−1. The upper 0.5–2 cm of the crust is densely populated by orange-brown unicellular cyanobacteria. Below, a layer of green-colored filamentous cyanobacteria is found. Underneath, a bright purple layer of anoxygenic phototrophs is present, below which a reduced black layer is found. We have investigated the biological properties of this crust using a wide variety of techniques, and we here review the results of these interdisciplinary studies. The tests performed included microscopic examination of the biota, phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, fatty acid analysis, light intensity and light quality measurements, microelectrode studies of oxygen profiles and oxygen evolution, determination of sulfate reduction using radioisotope methods, and measurement of methane evolution. The stable vertical stratification in the system enabled separate analyses of the different layers with a high spatial resolution. It was therefore possible to combine the different approaches and obtain information on the activities of the different types of oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophs, dissimilatory sulfate reducers and methanogens in the different layers, as well as phylogenetic information on the nature of the microorganisms responsible for these processes. The gypsum crust thus becomes a paradigm for the study of a wide variety of microbial processes and their interrelationships in the presence of high salt concentrations.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Israel Salt Company in Eilat, Israel for allowing access to the salterns, and the staff of the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences of Eilat and the Moshe Shilo Minerva Center for Marine Biogeochemistry for logistic support. Different aspects of this research project were financially supported by the Danish Basic Research Foundation (Grundforskningsfonden), the Danish Research Agency (Statens Naturvidenskablige Forskningsråd), the Israel Science Foundation founded by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the NASA Astrobiology Institutes “Subsurface Biospheres” and “Environmental Genomics”, and the State of Lower-Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation, Hannover, Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel

    Aharon Oren & Danny Ionescu

  2. The Moshe Shilo Minerva Center for Marine Biogeochemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel

    Aharon Oren & Danny Ionescu

  3. Danish Technological Institute, Aarhus, Denmark

    Ketil B. Sørensen

  4. Danish Center for Earth System Science, Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230, Odense, Denmark

    Don E. Canfield

  5. Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Andreas P. Teske

  6. MicroPro GmbH, Magdeburger Straße 26b, 39245, Gommern, Germany

    André Lipski

  7. Fachbereich Biologie/Chemie, Abteilung Mikrobiologie, Universität Osnabrück, 49069, Osnabrück, Germany

    Karlheinz Altendorf

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  1. Aharon Oren
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  2. Ketil B. Sørensen
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  3. Don E. Canfield
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  4. Andreas P. Teske
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  5. Danny Ionescu
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  6. André Lipski
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  7. Karlheinz Altendorf
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Correspondence to Aharon Oren.

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Guest Editors: J. John & B. Timms

Salt Lake Research: Biodiversity and Conservation—Selected papers from the 9th Conference of the International Society for Salt Lake Research

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Oren, A., Sørensen, K.B., Canfield, D.E. et al. Microbial communities and processes within a hypersaline gypsum crust in a saltern evaporation pond (Eilat, Israel). Hydrobiologia 626, 15–26 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9734-8

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