Abstract
The Copahue geothermal system is a natural extreme environment located at the northern end of the Cordillera de los Andes in Neuquén province in Argentina. The geochemistry and consequently the biodiversity of the area are dominated by the activity of the Copahue volcano. The main characteristic of Copahue is the extreme acidity of its aquatic environments; ponds and hot springs of moderate and high temperature as well as Río Agrio. In spite of being an apparently hostile location, the prokaryotic biodiversity detected by molecular ecology techniques as well as cultivation shows a rich and diverse environment dominated by acidophilic, sulphur oxidising bacteria or archaea, depending on the conditions of the particular niche studied. In microbial biofilms, found in the borders of the ponds where thermal activity is less intense, the species found are completely different, with a high presence of cyanobacteria and other photosynthetic species. Our results, collected during more than 10 years of work in Copahue, have enabled us to outline geomicrobiological models for the different environments found in the ponds and Río Agrio. Besides, Copahue seems to be the habitat of novel, not yet characterised autochthonous species, especially in the domain Archaea.
Highlights
Prokaryotic biodiversity in geothermal environments has been studied for many years, since the height of research in Yellowstone National Park in the early 70s [1,2]
Centre; (F) Las Maquinitas; (G) Anaerobic sediments; (H) Microbial biofilms. Another very interesting extreme environment found in this geothermal zone originates in the proximity of the crater of the Copahue volcano; approximately 100 m below there are two acidic thermal springs, with pH values between 0.3 and 2.3 which are considered the sources of acidic Río Agrio
This work is the first comprehensive review of the microbial biodiversity found at Copahue geothermal system which is a rich and diverse extreme environment with a wide range of temperatures and acidity
Summary
Prokaryotic biodiversity in geothermal environments has been studied for many years, since the height of research in Yellowstone National Park in the early 70s [1,2]. The case of acidic geothermal fields was specific, as they are usually associated with active volcanoes where the geochemistry is mainly related to sulphur and iron minerals. The biodiversity of those environments is especially interesting due to the presence of acidophilic species that are able to obtain energy from the oxidation or reduction of such minerals, in many cases autotrophically. The Copahue geothermal system constitutes an extreme environment with a variety of acidity and temperature conditions that is dominated by the still active Copahue volcano. The aim of this article is to build, based on our previous results, a comprehensive review of the microbial biodiversity of the Copahue geothermal system
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