PMID- 17693567
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20080122
LR  - 20200304
IS  - 0099-2240 (Print)
IS  - 1098-5336 (Electronic)
IS  - 0099-2240 (Linking)
VI  - 73
IP  - 19
DP  - 2007 Oct
TI  - Microbial community biofabrics in a geothermal mine adit.
PG  - 6172-80
AB  - Speleothems such as stalactites and stalagmites are usually considered to be 
      mineralogical in composition and origin; however, microorganisms have been 
      implicated in the development of some speleothems. We have identified and 
      characterized the biological and mineralogical composition of mat-like biofabrics 
      in two novel kinds of speleothems from a 50 degrees C geothermal mine adit near 
      Glenwood Springs, CO. One type of structure consists of 2- to 3-cm-long, 3- to 
      4-mm-wide, leather-like, hollow, soda straw stalactites. Light and electron 
      microscopy indicated that the stalactites are composed of a mineralized biofabric 
      with several cell morphotypes in a laminated form, with gypsum and sulfur as the 
      dominant mineral components. A small-subunit rRNA gene phylogenetic community 
      analysis along the stalactite length yielded a diverse gradient of organisms, 
      with a relatively simple suite of main constituents: Thermus spp., 
      crenarchaeotes, Chloroflexi, and Gammaproteobacteria. PCR analysis also detected 
      putative crenarchaeal ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) genes in this 
      community, the majority related to sequences from other geothermal systems. The 
      second type of speleothem, dumpling-like rafts floating on a 50 degrees C pool on 
      the floor of the adit, showed a mat-like fabric of evidently living organisms on 
      the outside of the dumpling, with a multimineral, amorphous, gypsum-based 
      internal composition. These two novel types of biofabrics are examples of the 
      complex roles that microbes can play in mineralization, weathering, and 
      deposition processes in karst environments.
FAU - Spear, John R
AU  - Spear JR
AD  - Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 
      Golden, Colorado 80401, USA.
FAU - Barton, Hazel A
AU  - Barton HA
FAU - Robertson, Charles E
AU  - Robertson CE
FAU - Francis, Christopher A
AU  - Francis CA
FAU - Pace, Norman R
AU  - Pace NR
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
DEP - 20070810
PL  - United States
TA  - Appl Environ Microbiol
JT  - Applied and environmental microbiology
JID - 7605801
RN  - 9007-49-2 (DNA)
SB  - IM
MH  - Bacteria/*metabolism
MH  - *Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
MH  - Chloroflexi/classification/genetics
MH  - DNA/metabolism
MH  - *Ecosystem
MH  - Genes, rRNA
MH  - Geologic Sediments/chemistry/*microbiology
MH  - Hot Springs/*microbiology
MH  - Mining
MH  - Polymerase Chain Reaction
MH  - Temperature
MH  - Thermus/classification/genetics
MH  - *Water Microbiology
PMC - PMC2075011
EDAT- 2007/08/19 09:00
MHDA- 2008/01/23 09:00
PMCR- 2008/02/01
CRDT- 2007/08/19 09:00
PHST- 2007/08/19 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2008/01/23 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/08/19 09:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2008/02/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - AEM.00393-07 [pii]
AID - 0393-07 [pii]
AID - 10.1128/AEM.00393-07 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Oct;73(19):6172-80. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00393-07. Epub 
      2007 Aug 10.