1999/12/01 by Josefa Antón, Enric Llobet‐Brossa, Francisco Rodríguez‐Valera +1 · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology #Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies #Protist diversity and phylogeny
paper · doi:10.1046/j.1462-2920.1999.00065.x
openalex publication_date 1999/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/22
A fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) protocol suitable for the identification of prokaryotes inhabiting hypersaline environments was developed and applied to several crystallizer ponds with salinities above 36% from a multipond solar saltern in Alicante, Spain. Two morphotypes were abundant in these environments: rods and square or square-like prokaryotes that could be affiliated to Bacteria and Archaea, respectively, by FISH with domain-specific probes. FISH with a newly designed probe proved that the archaeal 16S rDNA sequence most frequently recovered from the crystallizers, SPhT, originated from the dominant square-like prokaryotes. These uncultured prokaryotes have the morphology of Walsby's square bacteria. Additionally, FISH with a probe targeted to the genus Haloarcula, members of which are frequently isolated from this environment, indicated that this genus accounts for less than 0.1% of the total prokaryotic community.