Assessment of microbial communities colonizing the Azé prehistoric cave

Abstract

• Biofilms were assessed inside and outside the Azé prehistorical cave. • Several vestiges remain in the cavity and are colonized by microorganisms. • Each section of the cave host different bacterial or phototrophic communities. • The microbial richness decreases from the outside to the bottom of the cave. • The outside environment is the main driver of the cave communities. This present study addresses the question of the composition of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities outside, at the entrance and inside the prehistoric Azé cave using a metabarcoding survey. The results showed that cave bacteria as well as Eukaryote phototrophs richness were negatively correlated with the distance from the cave entrance. In fact, outside the cave, richness, diversity and specific OTUs were significantly higher in comparison to the entrance and the bottom of the cave. Moreover, this study reported that each section of the cave host different communities. The differences in communities provide a better understanding of the microorganism sources in the Azé show cave.