Genetics. Published Articles Ahead of Print: February 3, 2008, Copyright © 2008
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.082164


A more recent version of this article appeared on March 1, 2008.

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Drop-size soda lakes: transient microbial habitats on a salt-secreting desert tree

Noga Qvit-Raz 1, Edouard Jurkevitch 1 and Shimshon Belkin 1*

1 Hebrew University of Jerusalem

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: shimshon{at}vms.huji.ac.il.

Submitted on September 20, 2007
Revised on November 21, 2007
Accepted on 4 January 2008


Abstract

We describe a hitherto unrecognized bacterial community, inhabiting the leaf surfaces of the salt-excreting desert tree Tamarix. High temperatures, strong radiation and very low humidity dictate a daytime existence in complete desiccation, but damp nights allow the microbial population to proliferate in a sugar-rich, alkaline and hyper saline solution, before drying up again after sunrise. The exclusively bacterial population contains many undescribed species and genera, but nevertheless appears to be characterized by relatively limited species diversity. Sequences of 16s rRNA genes from either isolates or total community DNA place the identified members of the community in five bacterial groups (Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, {alpha}- and {gamma}-Proteobacteria); in each of these, they concentrate in a very narrow branch that in most cases harbors organisms isolated from unrelated halophilic environments.

Key Words: Halophiles, Microbial biodiversity, Phyllosphere microbiology, Phylogenetic tree, Tamarix