Colored Microbial Coatings in Show Caves from the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador): First Microbiological Approach
Source abstract
Abstract
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.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Building materials and conservation · Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology · Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
HERCULES Laboratory, Universidade de Évora, 7000-809 Évora, Portugal
Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia de Sevilla (IRNAS-CSIC), 41012 Sevilla, Spain
Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
CERENA, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Department of Biology and Geology, Universidad de Almeria, 04120 Almería, Spain
Department of Earth Sciences and Environmental Geology, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Instituto de Geociencias, CSIC-Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Campus Sangolquí, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas (ESPE), 171103 Sangolquí, Ecuador
City U Macau Chair in Sustainable Heritage, Universidade de Évora, 7000-809 Évora, Portugal
Departamento de Química, Universidade de Évora, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal
Funding
Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment · Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness · Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia · Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport · Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship of the European Commission's 7th Framework Program · University of Almería
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