Fungal Diversity and Composition of the Continental Solar Saltern in Añana Salt Valley (Spain).

Maia Azpiazu-Muniozguren,Lorena Laorden,Aitor Rementeria,Javier Garaizar,Alba Perez,Javier Gamboa,Ilargi Martinez-Ballesteros,Irati Martinez-Malaxetxebarria,Joseba Bikandi,Rodrigo Alonso

doi:10.3390/jof7121074

Maia Azpiazu-Muniozguren, Lorena Laorden + Show 8 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7121074

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Abstract

The Añana Salt Valley in Spain is an active continental solar saltern formed 220 million years ago. To date, no fungal genomic studies of continental salterns have been published, although DNA metabarcoding has recently expanded researchers’ ability to study microbial community structures. Accordingly, the aim of this present study was to evaluate fungal diversity using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) metabarcoding at different locations along the saltern (springs, ponds, and groundwater) to describe the fungal community of this saline environment. A total of 380 fungal genera were detected. The ubiquity of Saccharomyces was observed in the saltern, although other halotolerant and halophilic fungi like Wallemia, Cladosporium, and Trimmatostroma were also detected. Most of the fungi observed in the saltern were saprotrophs. The fungal distribution appeared to be influenced by surrounding conditions, such as the plant and soil contact, cereal fields, and vineyards of this agricultural region.

Highlights

Saline and hypersaline environments are widely distributed around the world
The Añana Salt Valley (30 km southwest of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Northern Spain; 42.80 N 2.98 W) is an active continental solar saltern formed about 220 million years ago following the evaporation of water from the great ocean (Tethys Ocean) that covered most of the Earth
The fungal diversity and community structure in the water samples taken from representative sites in the Añana Salt Valley were investigated by Highthroughput sequencing (HTS) (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Saline and hypersaline environments are widely distributed around the world. The study of these habitats is becoming more common, as a means to increase knowledge regarding the structure of their microbial communities and to gain insights into the adaptations of these organisms to these unique locations. The Añana Salt Valley (30 km southwest of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Northern Spain; 42.80 N 2.98 W) is an active continental solar saltern formed about 220 million years ago following the evaporation of water from the great ocean (Tethys Ocean) that covered most of the Earth. This process led to the deposit of extensive layers of evaporites (salts, anhydrite, and gypsum), which, emanating from highly plastic stratigraphic levels and subjected to great pressure, rose through the sedimentary layers of the Earth’s crust, crossing and deforming these layers and resulting in the formation of a diapir. Springs that are next to each other contain water with different levels of salinity

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