@article{10272/24481,
year = {2024},
month = {10},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24481},
abstract = {Salinity has a strong influence on microorganisms distribution patterns and consequently on the relevance of photoheterotrophic metabolism, which since the discovery of proteorhodopsins is considered the main contributor to solar energy capture on the surface of the oceans. Solar salterns constitute an exceptional system for the simultaneous study of several salt concentrations, ranging from seawater, the most abundant environment on Earth, to saturated brine, one of the most 
extreme, which has been scarcely studied. In this study, pigment composition across the salinity gradient has been analyzed by spectrophotometry and RP-HPLC, and the influence of salinity on microbial diversity of the three domains of life has been evaluated by a metataxonomic study
targeting hypervariable regions of 16S and 18S rRNA genes. Furthermore, based on the chlorophyll a and retinal content, we have estimated the relative abundance of rhodopsins and photosynthetic reaction centers, concluding that there is a strong correlation between the retinal/chlorophyll a ratio and salinity. Retinal-based photoheterotrophy is particularly important for prokaryotic survival in hypersaline environments, surpassing the sunlight energy captured by photosynthesis, and being more relevant as salinity increases. This fact has implications for understanding the survival of microorganisms in extreme conditions and the energy dynamics in solar salter ponds.},
organization = {This research was funded by MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, ERDF/EU (research grant PID2022-140995OB-C21), and Research Project for Young Sea Researchers (CEIMAR-2022).},
organization = {This research was funded by MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, ERDF/EU (research grant PID2022-140995OB-C21), and Research Project for Young Sea Researchers (CEIMAR-2022).},
organization = {The authors thank to “Salinas del Odiel S.L.” company and E. Martinez-Montes and L. Refojo of the “Paraje Natural Marismas del Odiel” for their support in obtaining the water samples used in this study; Josefa Ant´ on and Cristina L´ opez from the University of Alicante for providing Salinibacter M13 cells for the isolation of salinixanthin standard; and R. Fern´ andez for graphic design. P. G´ omez-Villegas acknowledges the financial support of the University of Huelva for the “Margarita Salas Grant”. Funding for open access charge:Universidad de Huelva / CBUA is acknowledged.},
publisher = {Elsevier},
title = {Metataxonomy and pigments analyses unravel microbial diversity and the relevance of retinal-based photoheterotrophy at different salinities in the Odiel Salterns (SW, Spain)},
doi = {10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2024.113043},
author = {Gómez Villegas, Patricia and Pérez Rodríguez, Miguel and Porres, Jesús M. and Prados, José C. and Melguizo, Consolación and Vigara Fernández, Javier and Moreno Garrido, Ignacio and León Bañares, Rosa María},
}