Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, Zimbabwe
Abstract Background Soda pans are unique, natural aquatic environments characterised by elevated salinity and alkalinity, creating a distinctive and often extreme geochemistry. The microbiomes of soda pans are unique, with extremophiles such as halophiles, alkaliphiles and haloalkaliphiles being imp...
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2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-024-03655-0 |
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| author | Ngonidzashe Mangoma Nerve Zhou Thembekile Ncube |
| author_facet | Ngonidzashe Mangoma Nerve Zhou Thembekile Ncube |
| author_sort | Ngonidzashe Mangoma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Soda pans are unique, natural aquatic environments characterised by elevated salinity and alkalinity, creating a distinctive and often extreme geochemistry. The microbiomes of soda pans are unique, with extremophiles such as halophiles, alkaliphiles and haloalkaliphiles being important. Despite being dominated by mostly unculturable inhabitants, soda pans hold immense biotechnological potential. The application of modern “omics-based” techniques helps us better understand the ecology and true extend of the biotechnological potential of soda pan microbiomes. In this study, we used a shotgun metagenomic approach to determine the microbial diversity and functional profile of previously unexplored soda pans located in Buhera, Eastern Zimbabwe. A combination of titrimetry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP‒OES) was used to perform physico-chemical analysis of the soda pan water. Results Physicochemical analysis revealed that the Buhera soda pans are highly alkaline, with a pH range of 8.74 to 11.03, moderately saline (2.94 – 7.55 g/L), and have high carbonate (3625 mg/L) and bicarbonate ion (1325 mg/L) alkalinity. High levels of sulphate, phosphate, chloride and fluoride ions were detected. Metagenomic analysis revealed that domain Bacteria dominated the soda pan microbial community, with Pseudomonadota and Bacillota being the dominant phyla. Vibrio was shown to be the predominant genus, followed by Clostridium, Candidatus Brevefilum, Acetoanaerobium, Thioalkalivibrio and Marinilactibacillus. Archaea were also detected, albeit at a low prevalence of 1%. Functional profiling revealed that the Buhera soda pan microbiome is functionally diverse, has hydrolytic-enzyme production potential and is capable of supporting a variety of geochemical cycles. Conclusions The results of this pioneering study showed that despite their extreme alkalinity and moderate salinity, the Buhera soda pans harbour a taxonomically and functionally diverse microbiome dominated by bacteria. Future work will aim towards establishing the full extent of the soda pan’s biotechnological potential, with a particular emphasis on potential enzyme production. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2f096835f8ed4501ad5fe461a58728f5 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1471-2180 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj-art-2f096835f8ed4501ad5fe461a58728f52025-08-20T02:08:24ZengBMCBMC Microbiology1471-21802024-11-0124111510.1186/s12866-024-03655-0Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, ZimbabweNgonidzashe Mangoma0Nerve Zhou1Thembekile Ncube2Department of Applied Biology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Applied Science, National University of Science and TechnologyBiological Sciences and Biotechnology Department, Faculty of Sciences, Botswana International University of Science and TechnologyResearch and Internationalization Office, National University of Science and TechnologyAbstract Background Soda pans are unique, natural aquatic environments characterised by elevated salinity and alkalinity, creating a distinctive and often extreme geochemistry. The microbiomes of soda pans are unique, with extremophiles such as halophiles, alkaliphiles and haloalkaliphiles being important. Despite being dominated by mostly unculturable inhabitants, soda pans hold immense biotechnological potential. The application of modern “omics-based” techniques helps us better understand the ecology and true extend of the biotechnological potential of soda pan microbiomes. In this study, we used a shotgun metagenomic approach to determine the microbial diversity and functional profile of previously unexplored soda pans located in Buhera, Eastern Zimbabwe. A combination of titrimetry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP‒OES) was used to perform physico-chemical analysis of the soda pan water. Results Physicochemical analysis revealed that the Buhera soda pans are highly alkaline, with a pH range of 8.74 to 11.03, moderately saline (2.94 – 7.55 g/L), and have high carbonate (3625 mg/L) and bicarbonate ion (1325 mg/L) alkalinity. High levels of sulphate, phosphate, chloride and fluoride ions were detected. Metagenomic analysis revealed that domain Bacteria dominated the soda pan microbial community, with Pseudomonadota and Bacillota being the dominant phyla. Vibrio was shown to be the predominant genus, followed by Clostridium, Candidatus Brevefilum, Acetoanaerobium, Thioalkalivibrio and Marinilactibacillus. Archaea were also detected, albeit at a low prevalence of 1%. Functional profiling revealed that the Buhera soda pan microbiome is functionally diverse, has hydrolytic-enzyme production potential and is capable of supporting a variety of geochemical cycles. Conclusions The results of this pioneering study showed that despite their extreme alkalinity and moderate salinity, the Buhera soda pans harbour a taxonomically and functionally diverse microbiome dominated by bacteria. Future work will aim towards establishing the full extent of the soda pan’s biotechnological potential, with a particular emphasis on potential enzyme production.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-024-03655-0Soda panGeochemistryExtremophileHaloalkaliphileSaline-alkalineMetagenomics |
| spellingShingle | Ngonidzashe Mangoma Nerve Zhou Thembekile Ncube Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, Zimbabwe BMC Microbiology Soda pan Geochemistry Extremophile Haloalkaliphile Saline-alkaline Metagenomics |
| title | Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, Zimbabwe |
| title_full | Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, Zimbabwe |
| title_fullStr | Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, Zimbabwe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, Zimbabwe |
| title_short | Metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the Buhera soda pans, Zimbabwe |
| title_sort | metagenomic insights into the microbial community of the buhera soda pans zimbabwe |
| topic | Soda pan Geochemistry Extremophile Haloalkaliphile Saline-alkaline Metagenomics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-024-03655-0 |
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