DIVERSITY OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITY OF A MICROBIAL MAT FROM PUNA ATACAMA, ARGENTINA

Hypersaline lagoons are found in desert region of Puna Atacama at up to 6000 m altitude. The microorganisms present in these environmental are exposed to extreme physicochemical conditions with high radiation and osmotic stress. However, the vast majorities of lagoon niches in the region have microbiodiversity with great adaptive capacity and are generally organized into organo-sedimentary stratifications. The microbial mat sample from this study was collected from lagoon Ojos de Campo located at 3350 m altitude (coordinates: 25° 39′48 96′′S 67° 42′53.91′′W), in the Salar de Antofalla, in the department of Antofagasta de la Sierra, northwestern Argentine province of Catamarca. For the analyzes, a pool of three distinct sample points were used to extraction of total DNA using the PowerSoil DNA isolation Kit (MO BIO Laboratories, Inc.). The V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified using the primers 515F and 806R and sequenced using an Ion Torrent (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA).