Sulfur Cycling and Microbial Community Structure in Cave Environment: some geomicrobiological aspects

In the last decade, cave microbiology has emerged as a growing interdisciplinary field. Because of caves provides a unique subsurface environment for the exploration of microbial life and their roles on biogeochemical cycling under extreme condition. Sulfidic caves form in carbonate rocks where sulfide-rich waters interact with oxygen at the water table or at subterranean springs (1). Terrestrial sulfidic caves and springs are abundant and diverse, as assessed by efforts to characterize cave microbial ecosystems and to understand large scale geochemical processes (2). In this study we examined the geochemical features, microbial community and capacity of sulfur cycling in sulfidic cave ( Kaklik Cave, Turkey ) and its two hot springs. Pyrosequencing were used to understand bacterial diversity and community structure in this study area with contrasting hydrochemial and geological properties. Environmental nucleic acids were extracted, and PCR-directed screens reveal the presence or absence of functional genes, indicating genetic capacity for sulfur cycling. The microbial community displayed a high level of microbial diversity, representing 22 phylum of the Bacteria and 5 phylum of the Archaea. Our results provide a comparative view of the microbial communities and processes involved in sulfur cycling in sulfidic cave environments. 1- Macalady et al. (2007) Extremely acidic, pendulous cave wall biofilms from the Frasassi cave system, Italy. Env.Mic. 9(6), 1402-1414 2- Rossmassler et al. Drivers of epsilonproteobacterial community composition in sulfidic caves and springs.