A molecular view of archaeal diversity in marine and terrestrial hot water environments

Abstract

Molecular phylogenetic survey of naturally occurring archaeal diversities in hot water environments was carried out by using the PCR-mediated small subunit rRNA gene (SSU rDNA) sequencing. Mixed population DNA was directly extracted from the effluent hot water or sediment of a shallow marine hydrothermal vent at Tachibana Bay, or the acidic hot water of hot spring pools at Mt. Unzen, in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Based on the partial rDNA sequences amplified with an Archaea-specific primer set, the archaeal populations of hot water environments consisted of phylogenetically and physiologically diverse group of microorganisms. The archaeal populations were varied in each sample and subject to its environmental conditions. In addition, the large number of archaeal rDNA sequences recovered from hot water environments revealed the distant relationship not only to the rDNA sequences of the cultivated thermophilic archaea, but also to the sequences of unidentified archaeal rDNA clones found in other hot water environments. The findings extend our view of archaeal diversity in hot water environments and phylogenetic organization of these organisms.