Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach
The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) have a unique ecosystem on Earth due to their outstanding biodiversity and geological features. This also extends to their subterranean heritage, such as volcanic caves, with plenty of secondary mineral deposits, including coralloid-type speleothems and moonmilk depos...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/8931 |
| _version_ | 1789406396177973248 |
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| author | Miller, Ana Z. García Sánchez, Angela M. Coutinho, Mathilda L. Costa Pereira, Manuel F. Gázquez, Fernando Calaforra, José M. Forti, Paolo Martínez Frías, Jesús Toulkeridis, Theofilos Caldeira, Ana T. Saiz Jimenez, Cesareo |
| author_facet | Miller, Ana Z. García Sánchez, Angela M. Coutinho, Mathilda L. Costa Pereira, Manuel F. Gázquez, Fernando Calaforra, José M. Forti, Paolo Martínez Frías, Jesús Toulkeridis, Theofilos Caldeira, Ana T. Saiz Jimenez, Cesareo |
| author_sort | Miller, Ana Z. |
| collection | DSpace |
| description | The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) have a unique ecosystem on Earth due to their outstanding biodiversity and geological features. This also extends to their subterranean heritage, such as volcanic caves, with plenty of secondary mineral deposits, including coralloid-type speleothems and moonmilk deposits. In this study, the bacterial communities associated with speleothems from two lava tubes of Santa Cruz Island were investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was carried out for the morphological characterization and detection of microbial features associated with moonmilk and coralloid speleothems from Bellavista and Royal Palm Caves. Microbial cells, especially filamentous bacteria in close association with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), were abundant in both types of speleothems. Furthermore, reticulated filaments and Actinobacteria-like cells were observed by FESEM. The analysis of 16S rDNA revealed the presence of different bacterial phylotypes, many of them associated with the carbon, nitrogen, iron and sulfur cycles, and some others with pollutants. This study gives insights into subsurface microbial diversity of the Galapagos Islands and further shows the interest of the conservation of these subterranean geoheritage sites used as show caves. |
| format | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| id | oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-8931 |
| institution | Universidad de Cuenca |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-89312023-04-12T18:57:42Z Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach Miller, Ana Z. García Sánchez, Angela M. Coutinho, Mathilda L. Costa Pereira, Manuel F. Gázquez, Fernando Calaforra, José M. Forti, Paolo Martínez Frías, Jesús Toulkeridis, Theofilos Caldeira, Ana T. Saiz Jimenez, Cesareo volcanic caves reticulated filaments bacteria Actinobacteria biofilms The Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) have a unique ecosystem on Earth due to their outstanding biodiversity and geological features. This also extends to their subterranean heritage, such as volcanic caves, with plenty of secondary mineral deposits, including coralloid-type speleothems and moonmilk deposits. In this study, the bacterial communities associated with speleothems from two lava tubes of Santa Cruz Island were investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was carried out for the morphological characterization and detection of microbial features associated with moonmilk and coralloid speleothems from Bellavista and Royal Palm Caves. Microbial cells, especially filamentous bacteria in close association with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), were abundant in both types of speleothems. Furthermore, reticulated filaments and Actinobacteria-like cells were observed by FESEM. The analysis of 16S rDNA revealed the presence of different bacterial phylotypes, many of them associated with the carbon, nitrogen, iron and sulfur cycles, and some others with pollutants. This study gives insights into subsurface microbial diversity of the Galapagos Islands and further shows the interest of the conservation of these subterranean geoheritage sites used as show caves. 2020-11-23T12:33:57Z 2020-11-23T12:33:57Z 2020-11-22 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2079-6412 http://hdl.handle.net/10835/8931 en https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/10/11/1134 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess MDPI |
| spellingShingle | volcanic caves reticulated filaments bacteria Actinobacteria biofilms Miller, Ana Z. García Sánchez, Angela M. Coutinho, Mathilda L. Costa Pereira, Manuel F. Gázquez, Fernando Calaforra, José M. Forti, Paolo Martínez Frías, Jesús Toulkeridis, Theofilos Caldeira, Ana T. Saiz Jimenez, Cesareo Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach |
| title | Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach |
| title_full | Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach |
| title_fullStr | Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach |
| title_short | Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach |
| title_sort | colored microbial coatings in show caves from the galapagos islands (ecuador): first microbiological approach |
| topic | volcanic caves reticulated filaments bacteria Actinobacteria biofilms |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/8931 |
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