Metagenomics Analysis of the Microbial Consortium in Samples from Lake Xochimilco, a World Cultural Heritage Site
Since ancient times, the community of Xochimilco in the south of Mexico City has provided vegetables for the entire city. Today, Lake Xochimilco is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is the last remaining bastion of Aztec culture and preserves the extraordinary ecological landscape of...
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2025-04-01
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| author | Alvaro de Obeso Fernández del Valle Jorge Membrillo-Hernández |
| author_facet | Alvaro de Obeso Fernández del Valle Jorge Membrillo-Hernández |
| author_sort | Alvaro de Obeso Fernández del Valle |
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| description | Since ancient times, the community of Xochimilco in the south of Mexico City has provided vegetables for the entire city. Today, Lake Xochimilco is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is the last remaining bastion of Aztec culture and preserves the extraordinary ecological landscape of chinampas, a system of arable islands that has endured for over 1000 years. Here, we report on the microbiological communities currently existing in the lake. This is relevant since the water irrigates crops on the islands, known as chinampas. To achieve this, samples from the lake were collected at two different sites, and metagenomics analysis of the <i>16S</i> gene was conducted. The results indicate the presence of five dominant bacterial phyla: <i>Actinobacteria</i> (44.5%), <i>Proteobacteria</i> (22.5%), <i>Firmicutes</i> (13%), <i>Bacteroidota</i> (6%), and <i>Chloroflexi</i> (4.6%). The most abundant families were <i>Micrococcaceae</i>, <i>Intrasporangiaceae</i>, and <i>Rhodobacteraceae</i>. The results correlate with current anthropogenic activity, indicating a moderate problem associated with contamination. Our findings suggest that immediate actions and increased awareness are necessary to preserve this cultural and natural heritage site and to take steps to comply with Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Furthermore, this is the first report to characterize microbial communities in the water of Lake Xochimilco using <i>16S</i> rRNA gene sequencing. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-731523bcfbe04b35a67ad1c66b800dbf |
| institution | DOAJ |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
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| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj-art-731523bcfbe04b35a67ad1c66b800dbf2025-08-20T03:13:58ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072025-04-0113483510.3390/microorganisms13040835Metagenomics Analysis of the Microbial Consortium in Samples from Lake Xochimilco, a World Cultural Heritage SiteAlvaro de Obeso Fernández del Valle0Jorge Membrillo-Hernández1Bioengineering Department, School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus, Calle del Puente 222, Col. Ejidos de Huipulco, Tlalpan, Mexico City 14380, MexicoBioengineering Department, School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus, Calle del Puente 222, Col. Ejidos de Huipulco, Tlalpan, Mexico City 14380, MexicoSince ancient times, the community of Xochimilco in the south of Mexico City has provided vegetables for the entire city. Today, Lake Xochimilco is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is the last remaining bastion of Aztec culture and preserves the extraordinary ecological landscape of chinampas, a system of arable islands that has endured for over 1000 years. Here, we report on the microbiological communities currently existing in the lake. This is relevant since the water irrigates crops on the islands, known as chinampas. To achieve this, samples from the lake were collected at two different sites, and metagenomics analysis of the <i>16S</i> gene was conducted. The results indicate the presence of five dominant bacterial phyla: <i>Actinobacteria</i> (44.5%), <i>Proteobacteria</i> (22.5%), <i>Firmicutes</i> (13%), <i>Bacteroidota</i> (6%), and <i>Chloroflexi</i> (4.6%). The most abundant families were <i>Micrococcaceae</i>, <i>Intrasporangiaceae</i>, and <i>Rhodobacteraceae</i>. The results correlate with current anthropogenic activity, indicating a moderate problem associated with contamination. Our findings suggest that immediate actions and increased awareness are necessary to preserve this cultural and natural heritage site and to take steps to comply with Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Furthermore, this is the first report to characterize microbial communities in the water of Lake Xochimilco using <i>16S</i> rRNA gene sequencing.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/4/835metagenomics<i>16S</i> RNAphylumchinampaSDG11cultural heritage |
| spellingShingle | Alvaro de Obeso Fernández del Valle Jorge Membrillo-Hernández Metagenomics Analysis of the Microbial Consortium in Samples from Lake Xochimilco, a World Cultural Heritage Site Microorganisms metagenomics <i>16S</i> RNA phylum chinampa SDG11 cultural heritage |
| title | Metagenomics Analysis of the Microbial Consortium in Samples from Lake Xochimilco, a World Cultural Heritage Site |
| title_full | Metagenomics Analysis of the Microbial Consortium in Samples from Lake Xochimilco, a World Cultural Heritage Site |
| title_fullStr | Metagenomics Analysis of the Microbial Consortium in Samples from Lake Xochimilco, a World Cultural Heritage Site |
| title_full_unstemmed | Metagenomics Analysis of the Microbial Consortium in Samples from Lake Xochimilco, a World Cultural Heritage Site |
| title_short | Metagenomics Analysis of the Microbial Consortium in Samples from Lake Xochimilco, a World Cultural Heritage Site |
| title_sort | metagenomics analysis of the microbial consortium in samples from lake xochimilco a world cultural heritage site |
| topic | metagenomics <i>16S</i> RNA phylum chinampa SDG11 cultural heritage |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/4/835 |
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