Soto-Ramírez, Nelís del C.

Profile Picture

Filters

Reset filters

Settings

Citations

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    A survey of halophilic aerobic prokaryotes associated to the leaf surface of Avicennia germinans at the Solar Salterns of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
    (2007) Soto-Ramírez, Nelís del C.; Montalvo-Rodríguez, Rafael R.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Maldonado Ramírez, Sandra L.; Acosta-Mercado, Dimaris; Santos Flores, Carlos J.; Department of Biology; Zapata, Mildred
    Mangroves represent the major component of coastal marine-lagoon ecosystems in the tropics. In the Caribbean, Avicennia germinans (black mangrove) is one of the dominant plant species within this ecosystem. In Puerto Rico, Cabo Rojo has one of the most important forest of A. germinans, a species threatened by anthropogenic activity. Mangroves are highly productive sites due to the microorganisms that inhabit their sediments and rhizosphere (Bashan, 2000). Few studies concerning the relationship between mangroves and the microbial community have been reported. The main objective of this research was to determine the prokaryotic diversity associated to the leaf surface of the black mangrove by culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques. Several prokaryotic groups were isolated from this extreme environment representing four bacterial genera: Staphylococcus, Pontibacillus, Halomonas, and Halobacillus. Two isolates were classified as new species; Halomonas avicenniae sp. nov. (MW2aT) and Halobacillus puertoriconensis sp. nov. (MS10T). Results from non-culture dependent methods such as 16S rDNA environmental clone libraries suggest that the leaf surface of A. germinans has high prokaryotic diversity. A total of 1712 clones were obtained and 95 clones were analyzed in silico to classify them into Operational Taxonomical Units (OTU). Most of the OTU s belonged to the bacteria domain having a close relationship to the Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria (alpha, beta and gamma) groups. Several OTU s such as G58, G8 and G56 were also closely related to the extremely halophilic Archaea. The isolates obtained in this study will increase our understanding about plant-microbial interactions and about the relative contribution of their microenvironment. Furthermore, knowledge about the identity of those microorganisms, using the 16S rDNA technique, will allow the potential development of physiological and biochemical applications in biotechnology and astrobiology. This study is the first attempt to study the prokaryotic diversity present on the leaf surface of Avicennia germinans from the Caribbean.