Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 DOI 10.1007/s00792-016-0849-3 ORIGINAL PAPER Diversity of extremophilic bacteria in the sediment of high‑altitude lakes located in the mountain desert of Ojos del Salado volcano, Dry‑Andes Júlia Margit Aszalós1 · Gergely Krett1 · Dóra Anda1 · Károly Márialigeti1 · Balázs Nagy2 · Andrea K. Borsodi1 Received: 15 March 2016 / Accepted: 31 May 2016 / Published online: 17 June 2016 © Springer Japan 2016 Abstract Ojos del Salado, the highest volcano on Earth is surrounded by a special mountain desert with extreme aridity, great daily temperature range, intense solar radiation, and permafrost from 5000 meters above sea level. Several saline lakes and permafrost derived high-altitude lakes can be found in this area, often surrounded by fumaroles and hot springs. The aim of this study was to gain information about the bacterial communities inhabiting the sediment of high-altitude lakes of the Ojos del Salado region located between 3770 and 6500 m. Altogether 11 sediment samples from 4 different altitudes were examined with 16S rRNA gene based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and clone libraries. Members of 17 phyla or candidate divisions were detected with the dominance of Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. The bacterial community composition was determined mainly by the altitude of the sampling sites; nevertheless, the extreme aridity and the active volcanism had a strong influence on it. Most of the sequences showed the highest relation to bacterial species or uncultured clones from similar extreme environments. Keywords High-altitude lakes · Dry-Andes · Bacterial diversity · 16S rRNA gene · DGGE · Clone library Communicated by A. Oren. * Andrea K. Borsodi [email protected] 1 Department of Microbiology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary 2 Department of Physical Geography, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary Introduction Ojos del Salado (6893 m, S 27°06′34.6″, W 68°32′32.1″), the highest volcano on Earth is a dormant stratovolcano hosted by the deserted plateau of Puna de Atacama (with an average altitude of 4500 meters above sea level; m.a.s.l) in the Dry-Andes. As an effect of the South American Dry Diagonal, the plateau is characterized by extreme aridity (lack of glaciers and increased elevation of potential snowline altitude), forming a remote mountain desert up to 6000 m (Vuille and Ammann 1997; Ammann et al. 2001; Houston and Hartley 2003; Azócar and Brenning 2010; Nagy et al. 2014a). Mountain deserts are harsh environments characterized by extreme aridity, intense solar UV radiation and extreme shifts in daily temperature (even 50 °C on the surface). In the region of Ojos del Salado precipitation occurs sporadically, and the snow rapidly sublimates instead of melting (Nagy et al. 2014a). In this hyperarid environment, altitudinal limit of vascular plants and continuous vegetation is 4600 m.a.s.l., much lower than in the case of the more humid Himalaya (6350 m.a.s.l.) (Halloy 1991). In mountain deserts water is present mainly in the form of ice within permafrost. Permafrost by definition of the Permafrost Subcommittee (1988) is “ground (i.e., soil and rock) that remains at or below 0 °C for at least 2 years”. In the region of Ojos del Salado from 5000 m.a.s.l discontinuous, while from 5600 m.a.s.l continuous permafrost can be found. The active layer of permafrost thaws periodically as a result of temperature changes. Although, the melting affects only the upper 5–60 cm of the permafrost, the active layer slowly increases as an effect of global climate change (Nagy et al. 2014b). Meltwater from thawing permafrost frequently accumulates in endorheic basins forming small 13 604 and shallow high-altitude lakes. These permafrost originated lakes are among the highest altitude lakes on Earth. Nevertheless, in a longer period of time they might disappear due to the degradation of permafrost and desiccation of the regolith (Nagy et al. 2014a, b). Beside lakes derived from the degrading permafrost, several salt-flats and high-altitude saline lakes (e.g. Laguna Santa Rosa, Laguna Verde) can also be found in the Puna de Atacama. The volumes of these high-altitude DryAndean lakes are decreasing since the last humid period because evaporation outweighs the amount of precipitation (Demergasso et al. 2010). The high-altitude lakes of Ojos del Salado are extreme environments resulting from the properties of mountain deserts, including intense solar radiation, radical changes in daily temperature and low water activity. Volcanic activities also have an influence on the physical and chemical characteristics of the environment; several hot springs are present in this area which can alter the pH, and—along with the solar radiation—affect the water temperature in a wide range. Fumaroles in high-altitude sites have been reported to host diverse communities with mosses, lichens, fungi and microbial mats in otherwise blank places (Halloy 1991; Costello et al. 2009). High-altitude lakes are sensitive ecosystems which respond rapidly to environmental changes; therefore, they are natural laboratories and indicators for climate changes (Adrian et al. 2009). They also give us insights into early life on Earth when the lack of ozone layer caused intense UV radiation and extremities in temperature (Cabrol et al. 2007). These lakes might be inhabited by several hitherto unknown microorganisms with special adaptive strategies to the extreme environmental conditions (Ordoñez et al. 2009). Former studies focused mainly on other lakes of the Dry-Andes (Demergasso et al. 2008; Dorador et al. 2008, 2013; Cabrol et al. 2009; Farías et al. 2009, 2014; Lynch Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 et al. 2012; Scott et al. 2015), and research was also performed on similar environments, for example Antarctic lakes and permafrost (Goordial et al. 2016; Aislabie et al. 2013; Antibus et al. 2012; Cowan et al. 2002) and high-altitude lakes or permafrost of the Tibetan Plateau (Wu et al. 2006; Xing et al. 2009; Zhang et al. 2007). Understanding the microbial processes in degrading permafrost is also an important issue, since thawing is proven to cause shifts in microbial communities, functional gene abundances which might be responsible for changes in global carbon cycle (Mackelprang et al. 2011; Tas et al. 2014; Hultman et al. 2015). The aim of the present work was to reveal the hitherto unknown bacterial communities inhabiting the sediments of five different high-altitude lakes located in the Ojos del Salado volcano, Dry-Andes. To gain information about the bacterial diversity and compare the community structures, 16S rRNA gene based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and molecular cloning methods were applied. Materials and methods Description of sampling sites The studied five high-altitude lakes are located near the border between Chile and Argentina in the area of Ojos del Salado volcano. Geographical location and GPS coordinates of the lakes are indicated in Fig. 1 and Table 1. Laguna Santa Rosa and Laguna Verde are permanent saline lakes located at 3770 and 4350 m.a.s.l., respectively. Because of the intense evaporation (1000 mm year−1) and very small amount of precipitation (170 mm year−1), the surface area of Laguna Santa Rosa and Laguna Verde has been constantly shrinking (Hiner 2009). This phenomenon caused an increase in the salt concentration of the lake water and accumulation of salt Fig. 1 Geographic location of Ojos del Salado (red star) in the map of South-America (a) and the sampling sites (yellow crosses) (b) 13 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 605 Table 1 Geographic parameters of the lakes in the area of Ojos del Salado volcano, location and physical characteristics of the sampling sites, numerical data of DGGE and 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis 3770 Laguna Verde 4350 2 1.2 Laguna Santa Rosa Elevation (m.a.s.l.) Lake area (km2, estim.) Maximum depth (m, estim.) Sample code GPS coordinates Water temperature (°C) Air temperature (°C) Lake I Lake II 5900 5900 Lake III 6500 15 0.0025 0.0025 0.006 4 1 1 1 AS-12 AS-13 AS-14 AS-5 AS-6 AS-9 AS-10 AS-1 AS-2 AS-3 AS-4 27.081085 S 27.081085 S 26.890288 S 27.088495 S 27.088495 S 27.088360 S 27.088396 S 27.109925 S 27.110914 S 27.110900 S 27.110206 S 69.175022 69.175022 68.486858 68.534330 68.534330 68.531410 68.531532 68.550184 68.550108 68.550121 68.550885 7 7 36 7 7 7 7 0 36 36 2 5 5 7 0 0 0 0 -5 -5 -5 -5 9.5 9.5 8.8 6.6 6.6 6.8 6.8 4.8 2.1 2.1 4.8 6540 6540 6260 1230 1230 1081 1542 n.e. 1360 n.e. n.e. 0-5 10-15 0-5 0-5 10-15 20 0-5 0-5 0-5 0-5 0-5 Number of DGGE bands 14 30 22 27 32 26 26 13 5 9 15 Number of ARDRA groups n.e. 43 42 27 n.e. n.e. 42 28 25 n.e. n.e. Number of identified molecular clones n.e. 38 34 21 n.e. n.e. 33 27 24 n.e. n.e. Clones with >97% similarity to a described species n.e. 4 1 7 n.e. n.e. 19 1 0 n.e. n.e. Clones with >97% similarity to a molecular clone n.e. 13 2 7 n.e. n.e. 4 9 7 n.e. n.e. pH Conductivity (μS cm-1) Sediment sampling depth (cm) ne not examined, estim. estimated crystals on the lakeside. Laguna Verde is fed by several cold and warm (34–36 °C) springs. Two seasonal nameless lakes (Lake I and II) found at 5900 m.a.s.l., are derived from the melting permafrost, and both can be characterized by shallow clear water bodies. These lakes were partially ice covered at the time of sampling. The third seasonal lake (Lake III) is located at 6500 m.a.s.l. This lake is surrounded by several fumaroles and fed by meltwater of perennial snowfields (1 °C) and a small warm (36 °C) creek. At the time of sampling this lake was completely frozen down to the bottom. Presence of warm springs near Laguna Verde and the warm spring and fumaroles at the 6500 m elevation site are signs of volcanic activity. Sampling was accomplished during the Földgömb Atacama Climate Monitoring Expedition in February 2014. Samples were collected into 50 ml sterile Falcon tubes from different sediment layers of all five lakes as indicated in Table 1, and were stored between −5 and 10 °C until being processed in the laboratory. DNA extraction and PCR amplification The community DNA was isolated using the Ultra Clean Soil Kit (MO Bio Inc., CA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The 16S rRNA gene was amplified by PCR using Bacteria-specific 27 forward (5′-AGAGTTT GATCMTGGCTCAG-3′) (Lane 1991) and 1401 reverse (5′-CGGTGTGTACAAGACCC-3′) (Nübel et al. 1996) primers. The following temperature protocol was used for bacterial PCR: initial denaturation at 95 °C for 5 min, followed by 32 cycles of denaturation at 94 °C for 30 s, annealing at 52 °C for 45 s and elongation at 72 °C for 60 s, and a final extension at 72 °C for 10 min. The PCR reaction mixture contained 200 µM of each deoxynucleoside triphosphate, 1 U of LC Taq DNA Polymerase (recombinant) (Fermentas, Lithuania), 1X Taq buffer with (NH4)2SO4 (Fermentas, Lithuania), 2 mM MgCl2, 0.65 mM of each primer, and approximately 20 ng of genomic DNA template in a total volume of 25 µL. Both community DNA isolates and PCR products were visualized in 1 % agarose gel stained with ECO Safe Nucleic Acid Staining Solution (Avegene, Taiwan) using UV excitation. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) A semi-nested PCR was carried out on the 16S rRNA gene amplicons using a GC-clamp (5′-GC clamp-CAGAGTTTGATCCTGGCTCAG-3′) containing 27 forward and 519 reverse (5′-GTNTTACNGCGGCKGCTG-3′) primers (Muyzer et al. 1993). The reaction mixture and temperature protocol were the same as mentioned above. Electrophoresis of PCR products was run for 14 h using an INGENY phorU-2 electrophoresis system in a 7 % polyacrylamide gel containing 40–60 % gradient of denaturants (40 % formamide and 7 M urea is defined as 100 %) in 1X TAE buffer at 100 V and 60 °C. Following the run, the gel was stained with ethidium-bromide, and detected under UV light. Discrete bands were excised from the gel with a sterile scalpel, and after an overnight incubation in 30 μl of distilled water, the extracted DNA was amplified with the 27 forward and 519 reverse primers using the same reaction mixture and temperature profile as described previously. The DGGE profiles of the samples were compared, and an UPGMA (unweighted pair group method using arithmetic mean algorithm) dendrogram (Smalla et al. 2007) was constructed based on the position and presence of bands in the different lanes (representing the samples) using Total Lab (TL 120) version 2006 (Nonlinear Dynamics Inc., Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) software. 13 606 Construction of molecular clone libraries The purified (EZ-10 Spin Column PCR Purification Kit, Bio Basic, Canada) 27 forward—1401 reverse PCR products were ligated into a TA-cloning vector (pGEM-T Vector System, Promega, WI, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and transformed into competent E. coli JM109 cells. For blue/white selection, the transformed cells were spread on LB agar plates containing 100 µg ml−1 ampicillin, 80 µg ml−1 X-Gal and 0.5 mM IPTG, and incubated overnight at 37 °C. White colonies were picked for the clone libraries, and DNA was extracted from the E. coli cells by incubating the cultures at 98 °C for 5 min, and pelleting the cell fragments by centrifugation with 4500 rcf for 5 min. Insert sequences of each clone were amplified with standard M13 forward (5′-GTAAAACGACGGCCAGT-3′) and M13 reverse (5′-CAGGAAACAGCTATG-3′) primers (Messing 1983) followed by a nested PCR with the original 27 forward and 1401 reverse primers. The thermal profiles of PCRs were the same as described previously. Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 forward primers using the automated Sanger-method by LGC Ltd. (Berlin, Germany). The quality of each chromatogram was checked with the help of the Chromas software, and low quality ends were trimmed (Technelysium Pty Ltd., Australia). Taxonomic relationships of the partial 16S rRNA gene sequences were determined by EzTaxon-e database (Kim et al. 2012). The 16S rRNA gene sequences were deposited into GenBank under accession numbers LN929548-LN929732. In the case of molecular clones, phylogenetic relations of sequences at least 97 % similarity to an uncultured environmental clone or described species (Stackebrandt and Goebel 1994; Vandamme et al. 1996; Tindall et al. 2010) found in GenBank were analyzed by construction of neighbor joining trees with MEGA6 software (Tamura et al. 2013). Sequences (along with the nearest cultivated relative or molecular clone sequences derived from GenBank) were aligned by ClustalW (Larkin et al. 2007), the number of bootstrap replications was 1000 and Kimura 2-parameter (Kimura 1980) model was applied. ARDRA grouping and rarefaction analysis Results and discussion PCR amplicons were grouped on the basis of their amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) patterns produced with restriction enzymes as described by MassolDeya et al. (1995). The applied restriction enzymes (Hin6I and BsuRI, Fermentas, Lithuania) were selected based on their different specificity (3′-G^CGC-5′ and 3′-GG^CC-5′, respectively) that resulted in different restriction pattern of PCR products allowing us to make ARDRA groups (Krett et al. 2013; Borsodi et al. 2012). Each reaction mixture contained 2 µl R/Tango Buffer (Fermentas), 7.76 µl sterile distilled water, 0.24 µl of enzyme and 10 µl of PCR product. Digestions were made at 37 °C, for 3 h. Digestion products were separated in 2 % agarose gel on 80 V for 80 min, stained with ECO Safe Nucleic Acid Staining Solution (Avegene, Taiwan), and visualized by UV excitation. Clones were grouped according to their different ARDRA patterns. At least one representative from each ARDRA group was sequenced. Rarefaction analysis was carried out to check, whether the number of clones analyzed was satisfactory to estimate diversity within the clone libraries and to compare the diversity of clone libraries. Rarefaction curves were produced with the software Past3 (Hammer et al. 2001) by plotting the number of 16S rRNA gene clones in each clone libraries against the number of clones in different ARDRA groups. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis Sequencing, identification and phylogenetic analysis PCR products from the excised DGGE bands and representative clones of each ARDRA group were sequenced with 27 13 To compare the bacterial community structures of the sediment samples from the lakes located in the Ojos del Salado region, similarity dendrogram was constructed on the basis of the DGGE patterns (Fig. 2). Three groups were formed according to the altitude of the studied lakes. Samples from the highest altitude were clearly separated from the others; furthermore, they formed pairs (AS-2 and AS-3; AS-1 and AS-4) in relation to the different temperatures of the sampling sites. Samples from Lake I (AS-5, AS-6) and Lake II (AS9, AS-10) located at 5900 m.a.s.l. formed the second group. The two sediment samples (AS-12 and AS-13) from Laguna Santa Rosa (3770 m.a.s.l.) formed the third group together with the sample (AS-14) from Laguna Verde (4350 m.a.s.l.). It is interesting to note that although sample AS-14 derived from a warm environment, it did not contain typical common bands with the other two warm samples (AS-2 and AS-3). Altogether 85 different bands were detected from the gel. Number of DGGE bands for each sample is indicated in Table 1. The smallest amount of bands (thus the least diverse community) was revealed in samples derived from 6500 m.a.s.l. (AS-1, AS-2, AS-3, AS-4), especially in the sediments of the warm shallow creek (AS-2, AS-3). Number of bands from samples at 3770 and 5900 m.a.s.l. consisted of 14–32 bands without a clear relationship to the altitude of the lakes or the depth of sediment. At the same time, samples from lakes I and II found at 5900 m.a.s.l. contained surprisingly large amount of bands (26– 32) suggesting high genetic diversity. In addition, the difference between the band numbers of samples AS-12 (30) and AS-13 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 607 Fig. 2 Similarity UPGMA dendrogram of the DGGE molecular fingerprints of the sediment samples from lakes of Ojos del Salado (elevation is indicated after the code of the sample. The excised bands are marked with arrows) Table 2 Phylogenetic affiliation of 16S rRNA gene sequences of the excised DGGE bands according to EzTaxon DGGE band Sample code Accession number Similarity (%) E value Coverage (%) Closest taxon in EzTaxon (accession number) Firmicutes An_9 100 LN929727 97 (179/184) 7.00E−75 Gemmatimonadetes An_3 AS-6 AS-12 LN929726 85 (384/450) 8.00E−113 100 Gemmatimonas aurantiaca (AP009153 ) Proteobacteria An_29 AS-1 Rhodanobacter umsongensis (FJ821731) LN929732 98 (461/469) 0 An_1 AS-4 LN929724 91 (418/461) 2.00E−169 100 Thiobacillus thiophilus (EU685841) An_14 AS-13 LN929731 98 (461/471) 0 100 Thiobacillus thiophilus (EU685841) An_2 AS-6 LN929725 98 (429/436) 0 100 Noviherbaspirillum psychrotolerans (JN390675) An_13 AS-9 LN929730 99 (463/470) 0 94 Noviherbaspirillum psychrotolerans (JN390675) An_10 AS-10 LN929728 97 (398/412) 4.00E−175 100 Brevundimonas faecalis (FR775448) An_11 AS-10 LN929729 98 (460/471) 0 Thermomonas brevis (AJ519989) (14) was more than twice, despite the fact that both originated from Laguna Santa Rosa located at 3770 m.a.s.l. From the DGGE gel a total of 14 discrete bands were excised and sequenced out of which 9 were successfully identified. They belonged to three different phyla (Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes and Proteobacteria) as it is indicated in Table 2. At species level, DGGE sequences were closely related to e.g., the extreme halophilic Halanaerobium sehlinense, firstly isolated from the Tunisian hypersaline lake Sehline Sebkha (Abdeljabbar et al. 2013) and the psychrotolerant Noviherbaspirillum psychrotolerans, described from Larsemann Hills, Antarctica (Bajerski et al. 2013). 16S rRNA gene based molecular clone libraries Based on the DGGE similarity dendrogram, 6 sediment samples (at least one from each altitude) were chosen for 100 Halanaerobium sehlinense (JN381500) 100 a detailed phylogenetic analysis by molecular clone libraries. Both samples AS-1 and AS-2 were derived from the upper 0–5 cm sediment layer at the highest altitude sampling site (Lake III), from a cold (0 °C) and a warm (36 °C) environment, respectively. From the lakes at 5900 m.a.s.l. two samples were chosen. Both samples AS-5 (Lake I) and AS-10 (Lake II) were taken from 0 to 5 cm sediment depth but on the DGGE similarity dendrogram they clearly separated from each other. Clone libraries from Laguna Verde (sample AS-14) and Laguna Santa Rosa (sample AS-13) were also examined in detail. Following the ARDRA grouping, 177 representatives were sequenced and identified from the altogether 431 molecular clones. The rarefaction curves (Fig. 3) did not reach asymptotes, indicating that further diversity would have been revealed by the analysis of a higher number of clones. The presence of the most diverse communities was found in the saline lakes at lower altitudes (samples AS-13, 13 608 AS-14) while the highest elevation sites (samples AS-1, AS-2) hosted the least diverse bacterial assemblages on the basis of rarefaction curves. In the six samples, members of 17 different phyla or candidate divisions (Aquificae, Deinococcus-Thermus, Chloroflexi, Nitrospirae, Cyanobacteria, Chlorobi, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, Caldithrix, Gemmatimonadetes, TM7, OD1, WS5) were detected. However, major differences were observed in the composition of the bacterial assemblages from different sampling sites. The relative abundance of molecular clones among the bacterial phyla per sample is shown in Fig. 4. Members of Proteobacteria were present in each clone library, and in 4 cases (AS-1, AS-2, AS-5, AS-13) Betaproteobacteria was the most abundant. The AS-10 clone library was predominated with Gammaproteobacteria. In AS-14, unlike other clone libraries, the class Betaproteobacteria was not detected but the members of Epsilonproteobacteria were present. Representatives of Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria were also detected at least in three clone libraries. The clone library constructed from the sediment sample of the extreme saline Laguna Santa Rosa (AS-13) contained 10 phyla, and showed the most diverse community structure amongst the examined lakes. Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum with four classes (Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma-, and Deltaproteobacteria), but members of Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and Verrucomicrobia were also abundant (Fig. 4). In this clone library altogether 37 ARDRA groups were separated. However, most of the molecular clones showed less than 97 % similarity to any described species. Only a few molecular clones (Fig. 5) could be identified at species level (with higher than 97 % of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to described species) (Stackebrandt and Goebel 1994; Vandamme et al. 1996; Tindall et al. 2010). They were closely related to the species Rhodoferax ferrireducens (Betaproteobacteria), the first described non-phototrophic member of the genus (Finneran et al. 2003) which grows via dissimilatory Fe(III) reduction, and R. antarcticus (Madigan et al. 2000), a moderately psychrophilic (growth optimum 15–18 °C) purple non-sulfur bacterium first isolated from Antarctic microbial mats. Representatives of the species Gillisia hiemivivida (Bowman and Nichols 2005) were present in this clone library, too. It is a psychrophilic and halophilic bacterium. Sequences closely related to the chemolithotrophic nitrite-oxidizing species of Nitrospira marina (Watson et al. 1986) was also detected. Sequences showing 96 % similarity to species Herminiimonas glaciei (Loveland-Curtze et al. 2009) detected in this clone library represented one of the dominant DGGE bands in the sample from Lake II found at 5900 m.a.s.l. It is worth mentioning 13 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 Fig. 3 Rarefaction curves for the different ARDRA patterns of 16S rRNA gene clones from lake sediment samples of the lakes located in the area Ojos del Salado volcano Fig. 4 Distribution of members of different phyla in the 16S rRNA gene clone libraries constructed from sediment samples of the lakes of Ojos del Salado, Dry-Andes that the largest ARDRA group of this sample showed the closest similarity to an uncultured environmental clone (Par-s-7, EF632909) from the high-altitude Chilean Altiplano (Dorador et al. unpublished data). Fig. 5 Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA ▸ gene sequence data of bacterial clones from sediment samples of the lakes of Ojos del Salado showing >97 % similarity to described species. The number of members of the ARDRA groups is indicated after the representative clone Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 609 AS-10-79 (LN929646) / 2 clones AS-5-51 (LN929610) / 2 clones AS-10-47 (LN929635) / 1 clone 55 71 Caenimonas terrae strain SGM1-15 (GU181268) / Soil (Korea) 99 AS-10-55 (LN929638) / 7 clones AS-5-3 (LN929598) / 2 clones 45 98 Acidovorax delafieldii (AF078764) / n.d. 94 Acidovorax facilis strain THWCSN37 (GQ284428) / Natural spring sediment (India) 63 A S-13-23 (LN929661) / 2 clones 70 Betaproteobacteria AS-13-3 (LN929653) / 3 clones 100 Rhodoferax ferrireducens (AF435948) / Subsurface sediment, Oyster Bay (USA) 100 AS-5-79 (LN929615) / 1 clone 100 Polaromonas cryoconiti strain Cr4-35 (HM583567) / Pitztaler Jöchl glacier cryoconite (Austria) AS-10-59 (LN929640) / 1 clone 100 99 Hydrogenophaga palleronii (AF019073) / n.d. 86 AS-10-76 (LN929645) / 1 clone 99 AS-5-20 (LN929602) / 3 clones AS-10-30 (LN929628) / 1 clone 100 Janthinobacterium svalbardensis strain JA-1 (DQ355146) / Austre Broggerbreen glacier (Spitzbergen) 100 AS-1-71 (LN929568) / 1 clone Rhodanobacter umsongensis strain GR24-2 (FJ821731) / Soil of a ginseng field (China) 100 AS-10-83 (LN929647) / 3 clones 99 Pseudoxanthomonas wuyuanensis (JN247803) / Saline-alkali soil (China) Gammaproteobacteria 99 AS-10-16 (LN929625) / 7 clones 93 Thermomonas brevis GZ436 (KF923805) / Soil of a coal mine (China) 71 AS-10-34 (LN929631) / 2 clones 95 Lysobacter koreensis (AB166878) / Soil of a ginseng field (Korea) AS-10-95 (LN929651) / 2 clones Gammaproteobacteria 100 Cellvibrio fibrivorans R4079 (AJ289164) / Soil (Belgium) 100 AS-10-6 (LN929620) / 4 clones Brevundimonas variabilis strain ATCC 15255 (AJ227783) / n.d. 100 AS-10-4 (LN929619) / 1 clone 100 Devosia glacialis strain Cr4-44 (HM474794) / Pitztaler Jöchl glacier cryoconite (Austria) Alphaproteobacteria 100 AS-10-42 (LN929633) / 4 clones 62 Catellibacterium aquatile strain A1-9 (EU313813) / Daqing reservoir freshwater (China) 100 AS-14-7 (LN929695) / 1 clone 100 Roseinatronobacter monicus strain ROS 35 (DQ659236) / Mono Lake (USA) AS-13-82 (LN929687) / 1 clone Nitrospira 100 Nitrospira marina (X82559) / Heating system (Russia) 100 AS-10-31 (LN929629) / 10 clones Microcoleus vaginatus PBP-D-KK1 (EF654072) / n.d. Cyanobacteria 100 AS-10-60 (LN929641) / 5 clones 100 Crinalium epipsammum SAG 22.89 (AB115964) / n.d. 100 AS-10-48 (LN929636) / 1 clone Hymenobacter roseosalivarius strain AA718 (Y18833) / Soil (Antarctica) 99 AS-5-56 (LN929612) / 1 clone 100 AS-10-9 (LN929622) / 1 clone Pedobacter daechungensis strain Dae 13 (AB267722) / Soil of a ginseng field (China) Bacteroidetes 100 AS-13-18 (LN929658) / 2 clones 94 Gillisia hiemivivida strain IC154 (AY694006) / Maritime habitat (Antarctica) 99 AS-5-29 (LN929604) / 10 clones 100 Flavobacterium glaciei strain 0499 (DQ515962) / Glacier (China) 100 AS-5-80 (LN929616) / 7 clones 92 Flavobacterium psychrophilum strain IFO 15942 (AB078060) / n.d. 100 AS-10-10 (LN929623) / 1 clone Actinobacteria Nocardioides alpinus strain Cr7-14 (GU784866) / Alpine glacier cryoconite (Austria) AS-10-11 (LN929624) / 1 clone Deinococcus-Thermus 100 Deinococcus marmoris strain AA-63 (JNIV01000230) / Marble rock (Antarctica) 96 79 63 93 61 68 41 100 78 0.05 AS-1: 6500 m (cold water) AS-2: 6500 m (warm water) AS-5: 5900 m (cold water) AS-10: 5900 m (cold water) AS-14: 4350 m (warm water) AS-13: 3770 m (cold water) 13 610 The clone library constructed from the sediment sample of the extreme saline Laguna Verde (AS-14) was unique among the studied samples. Members of altogether 6 phyla were present in this clone library (Fig. 4) including four classes of Proteobacteria (Alpha, Gamma- Delta- and Epsilonproteobacteria). Most of the identified molecular clones showed less than 97 % similarity to any environmental clones or formerly described species of bacteria (Figs. 5, 6). The most abundant groups showed only 90–91 % similarity to environmental clones from the phyla Caldithrix and Chloroflexi, respectively. Only one minor representative could be identified as member of species Roseinatronobacter monicus (Boldareva et al. 2007), an alkaliphilic halotolerant Alphaproteobacteria described from the hypersaline Mono Lake, California. Other ARDRA group representatives showed the highest similarity to uncultured clones from hot environment of methane-rich mud volcanoes, anaerobic hydrothermal vents or hot-springs in Greenland, Columbia or the Philippines. The relatively low sequence similarity rates suggest high abundance of undescribed species within this sample. Bacterial communities hosted by two permafrost derived lakes found at 5900 m.a.s.l. were very similar according to the clone libraries AS-5 and AS-10 (Fig. 4). The two clone libraries consisted of members of 7 phyla and shared many similar sequences, and both of them included molecular clones closely related to ones described from cryoconites, glaciers, permafrost sediments or freshwater lakes (Fig. 6). Among the molecular clone representatives, species Janthinobacterium svalbardensis (Avguštin et al. 2013) was detected in both samples. This psychrotrophic (growth occurs at 2–25 °C) bacterium was first described from a glacier in the Spitsbergen. Members of the genus Flavobacterium were also present in both clone libraries, and formed the most abundant ARDRA group in sample AS-5. Representatives of cold-adapted species F. glaciei (Zhang et al. 2006) and F. psychrophilum (Nakagawa et al. 2002) were detected in the sediment of Lake I (AS-5). Similarly, species F. psychrolimnae (Van Trappen et al. 2005) was described from microbial mats in the Antarctic Lake Fryxell, representatives of which were exposed from sediment sample AS-10 of Lake II. Betaproteobacteria was the second most abundant group in AS-5, and the presence of species Polaromonas cryoconitii was detected. This psychrophilic bacterium was first isolated from a cryoconite of Pasterze/Großglockner glacier in the Hohe Tauern, Austria (Margesin et al. 2012). Interestingly, in sample AS-10 members of phylum Cyanobacteria were also detected, and according to the 13 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 Fig. 6 Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA ▸ gene sequence data of bacterial clones from sediment samples of the lakes of Ojos del Salado showing >97 % similarity to an uncultured bacterial clone. The number of members of the ARDRA groups is indicated after the representative clone number of molecular clones they were dominant, however, this phylum was absent in sample AS-5 (Fig. 4). A minor ARDRA group in sample AS-10 was closely related to Hymenobacter roseosalivarius, a species of phylum Bacteroidetes (Fig. 5). This strictly aerobic, oligotrophic bacterium was isolated from soil samples of the Antarctic polar desert, Dry Valleys (Hirsch et al. 1998). In sample AS-10, only one molecular clone was related to Actinobacteria. It showed 97 % similarity to species Nocardioides alpinus, an actinomycete isolated from a cryoconite of Pitztaler Jöchl glacier in the Ötztaler Alps in Tyrol, Austria (Zhang et al. 2012). AS-10 was the only sample where presence of Chlorobi was observed (Fig. 4). A molecular clone showed high similarity to an unknown environmental sequence from moss pillars in a freshwater lake, Hotoke Ike, Antarctica (Nakai et al. 2012). The only member of the phylum Deinococcus-Thermus in this study was detected in the sample AS-5 (Fig. 4). Deinococcus marmoris is, a desiccation and UV radiation tolerating bacterium was described from Antarctic marble (Hirsch et al. 2004). Molecular clones related to the members of Gemmatimonadetes were also present in the sample AS-5 (Fig. 4). These clones showed the highest similarity to other environmental sequences, for example an environmental clone derived from Mendenhall glacier, USA (Sattin et al. 2009) and another from Socompa volcano in the Dry-Andes (Costello et al. 2009). Two sediment samples (AS-1 and AS-2) from Lake III found at 6500 m.a.s.l derived from relative proximity, however, have different physical and chemical characteristics (Table 1). AS-1 was a sediment sample from the shore affected by melt water of the ice body of the lake. AS-2 was a sediment sample under the warm and extremely acidic spring feeding the lake. Both DGGE and molecular clone library results showed characteristic differences between the bacterial communities inhabiting these sediment samples. In the case of sample AS-1, dominance of Acidobacteria was revealed (Fig. 4). The most abundant ARDRA group was closely related to Granulicella arctica (Männistö et al. 2012). Occurrence of members of genus Granulicella is frequent in Polar Regions, several species were Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 611 AS-2-10 (LN929580) / 7 clones Uncultured bacterium clone A1 e2 (HQ317061) / Acid rock drainage (Antarctica) AS-1-86 (LN929574) / 2 clones 43 100 Uncultured bacterium clone V6 44 (JF267704) / Coal mine heap, Sokolov (Czech Republic) AS-13-30 (LN929664) / 2 clones 86 100 Uncultured bacterium clone 4.4.9 (EU528206) / Kentucky lake sediment (USA) Betaproteobacteria 100 AS-5-55 (LN929611) / 5 clones Uncultured bacterium clone GA091 (EU636041) / Collins glacier (Antarctica) 86 AS-10-7 (LN929621) / 3 clones 100 Uncultured bacterium clone 1250 (FM209333) / Sand soil, Negev desert (Israel) AS-5-45 (LN929607) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone reservoir-108 (JF697489) / Stream of Dianchi lake (China) 98 AS-13-13 (LN929656) / 2 clones 100 AS-13-75 (LN929685) / 1 clone Uncultured bacterium clone Alchichica AL52 2 1B 85 (JN825498) / Alchichica alkaline lake (Mexico) AS-10-71 (LN929643) / 4 clones 100 Uncultured bacterium clone SR-O-03-32 (AM905315) / High-Arctic intertidal beach sediment (Norway) Gammaproteobacteria AS-10-84 (LN929648) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone KD2-14 (AY218573) / Penguin dropping sediment, Ardley Island (Antarctica) AS-13-36 (LN929667) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone FFCH8865 (EU134765) / Soil of mixed grass prairie (USA) AS-13-46 (LN929674) / 1 clone 100 AS-13-19 (LN929659) / 1 clone 94 Uncultured bacterium clone TX1A 146 (FJ152698) / Alkaline saline soil, former Lake Texcoco (Mexico) Alphaproteobacteria AS-1-14 (LN929555) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone JFJ-ICE-Bact-04 (AJ867748) / Melted-ice water (Switzerland) AS-2-5 (LN929578) / 10 clones 100 Firmicutes AS-2-3 (LN929577) / 15 clones 91 Uncultured bacterium clone Central-Bottom-cDNA clone89 (HE604029) / Acidic lignite mine lake (Germany) 100 AS-14-91 (LN929721) / 5 clones Uncultured bacterium clone LEGE 07319 (HM217045) / Estuary (Portugal) Cyanobacteria AS-14-6 (LN929694) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone SINH475 (HM128037) / Xiaochaidan lake (Tibet) 100 AS-13-63 (LN929678) / 1 clone Chloroflexi Uncultured bacterium clone FCPT687 (EF515885) / Grassland soil (CA USA) AS-1-74 (LN929570) / 3 clones 97 AS-1-44 (LN929562) / 6 clones TM7 100 AS-1-63 (LN929567) / 1 clone 82 Uncultured bacterium clone C129 (AF507687) / pinyon-juniper forest soil, Arizona (USA) 100 AS-5-31 (LN929605) / 1 clone Uncultured bacterium clone P3 (DQ351728) / Soil of LaGorce mountains (Antarctica) Bacteroidetes AS-13-60 (LN929676) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone 20m-41 (GU061294) / Intertidal beach seawater, Yellow Sea (Korea) 100 AS-5-9 (LN929599) / 2 clones Uncultured bacterium clone 5B 04E (JX098559) / 6000 meters elevation mineral soils (Atacama desert) 100 99 AS-5-61 (LN929613) / 2 clones Uncultured bacterium clone AK4AB2 04A (GQ396928) / Recently deglaciated soil, Mendenhall glacier (USA) Gemmatimonadetes 99 AS-13-72 (LN929682) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone KC-4 (EU421850) / Soil under a glacier, Lahaul-spiti Valley (Indian Himalaya) AS-13-5 (LN929655) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone BN23 (HQ190281) / Zhongynan oil field (China) 100 AS-1-80 (LN929573) / 2 clones Uncultured bacterium clone P23 (DQ351736) / Soil of LaGorce mountains (Antarctica) 100 AS-2-12 (LN929582) / 17 clones Actinobacteria Uncultured bacterium clone OY07-C082 (AB552368) / Volcanic ash deposit (Japan) AS-1-32 (LN929560) / 1 clone 100 Uncultured bacterium clone OY07-C186 (AB552456) / Volcanic ash deposit (Japan) 71 AS-5-92 (LN929618) / 2 clones 100 Uncultured bacterium clone A01 SB2A (FJ592652) / High-altitude warm fumarole soil, Socompa volcano (Andes) Verrucomicrobia AS-13-73 (LN929683) / 4 clones 92 Uncultured bacterium clone Par-s-7 (EF632909) / High-altitude freshwater sediment (Chilean Altiplano) 99 AS-13-41 (LN929671) / 1 clone 84 Uncultured bacterium clone RB41(Z95722) / n.d. AS-13-77 (LN929686) / 2 clones 100 99 Uncultured bacterium clone GTM2314fO9 (JN615809) / Microbial mat from lava cave (Portugal) AS-10-44 (LN929634) / 2 clones 100 AS-5-50 ( LN929609) / 1 clone 61 Uncultured bacterium clone EME017 (EF127595) / Ice of Dry Valleys (Antarctica) Acidobacteria 87 AS-2-56 (LN929590) / 1 clone 100 AS-2-85 (LN929596) / 1 clone AS-2-81 (LN929594) / 1 clone 65 89 Uncultured bacterium clone RT8-ant02-d03-W (JF807641) / Rio Tinto water (Spain) AS-1-77 (LN929571) / 3 clones Uncultured bacterium clone B146 (FJ466009) / Kilauea volcanic deposit (Hawaii) 100 90 AS-1-29 (LN929558) / 1 clone 95 Uncultured bacterium clone ERF-1A1 (DQ906050) / Rhizosphere on the bank of Rio Tinto (Spain) 99 99 98 84 54 45 96 58 16 76 100 17 36 54 99 74 24 89 99 22 51 72 0.02 AS-1: 6500 m (cold water) AS-2: 6500 m (warm water) AS-5: 5900 m (cold water) AS-10: 5900 m (cold water) AS-14: 4350 m (warm water) AS-13: 3770 m (cold water) 13 612 described from tundra soils in Finland. Species G. arctica was reported to be dominant in acidic soils, showing growth at only 4 °C, and being tolerant to several freeze– thaw cycles (Männistö et al. 2012). The second most abundant major ARDRA group was related to environmental clones from forest soils belonging to the candidate phylum TM7 (Dunbar et al. 2002). In AS-1 members of Actinobacteria were only far relatives of three species, Glaciihabitans tibetensis, isolated from glacial meltwater affected sediment in Tibet (Li et al. 2014), the psychrophilic (optimum at 1–15 °C) Alpinimonas psychrophila, described from cryoconites of Rettenbach glacier, Austria (Schumann et al. 2012), and the halotolerant (<4 % NaCl) Calidifontibacter indicus, described from a hot spring in India (Ruckmani et al. 2011). Other molecular clones from this library belonging to the phylum Actinobacteria showed the highest sequence similarity to uncultured bacteria detected in soil samples from La Gorce mountains, Antarctica (Aislabie et al. 2006) and from volcanic sediments in Japan (Fujimura et al. 2012). In sample AS-1, representatives of three classes of Proteobacteria (Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria) were detected (Fig. 4). Members of Alphaproteobacteria were related to molecular clones from mineral soil at 6000 m.a.s.l, in the Dry-Andes (Lynch et al. 2012). A molecular clone was closely related to the mesophilic species Rhodanobacter umsongensis (Kim et al. 2013) which was also detected by DGGE analysis. Some molecular clones of the sample AS-1 showed low similarity to molecular clones from soil of Princess Elisabeth Station, Antarctica (Peeters et al. 2011) and to species Mucilaginibacter frigoritolerans a freeze-thaw cycle tolerating bacterium (Männistö et al. 2010) within phylum Bacteroidetes. In sample AS-2 more than 33 % of the clones showed the highest similarity to environmental sequences belonging to the phylum Firmicutes (Fig. 4). This phylum was also present in the other warm sample AS-14. Phylum Actinobacteria was the second most abundant group. Molecular clones showed the highest similarity to environmental sequences, e.g., from the formerly mentioned volcanic sediment in Japan (Fujimura et al. 2012), the Mendenhall glacier in the United States, and clones from the acidic river Rio Tinto, Spain (García-Moyano et al. 2012). Molecular clones of sample AS-2 belonging to Acidobacteria were also similar to sequences from these acidic environments. Representatives of the phylum Cyanobacteria were also detected similar to the other warm-water sample AS-14. 13 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 Comparison of the communities inhabiting the lake sediments of Ojos del Salado and similar volcanic, high‑altitude lake or permafrost sediments Communities detected in the lake sediments of Ojos del Salado consisted of sequences related mainly to psychrophilic, acidophilic or halophilic microorganisms. The composition of the bacterial communities was similar to those reported from volcanic, high-altitude or permafrost sediments (Hultman et al. 2015; Taş et al. 2014). In these areas low organic material in soils, freeze-thaw cycles and aridity are probably the main components of the environmental stress which resulted in similar bacterial community composition at phylum level. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the most frequently detected phyla in almost all studied environments including the samples from the area of Ojos del Salado, as well (Table 3). Regarding the number of phyla, each clone library from the sediment samples of the lakes in the area of Ojos del Salado contained members of at least 5 phyla (Table 3). It is more than those found in similar high-altitude or permafrost-affected non-volcanic environments, for example in the glacier melt water on Mount Everest (Liu et al. 2006), permafrost soil of the Antarctic La Gorce mountain (Aislabie et al. 2006) and Princess Elisabeth station, Antarctica (Peeters et al. 2011). In the present study, the most diverse bacterial communities were detected in the samples from the lower altitudes. Similarly diverse communities were only reported from other active volcanic environments in the Dry-Andes, e.g., Socompa volcano (Costello et al. 2009) and Llullaillaco volcano (Lynch et al. 2012). Bacterial community composition of samples AS-5 and AS-6 showed the highest similarity with those inhabiting fumaroles and soils on Socompa volcano (Costello et al. 2009), while sample AS-2 was similar to a cold fumarole on Socompa volcano (Costello et al. 2009) and a young volcanic sediment from lower altitude (775 m) in Japan (Fujimura et al. 2012). This suggests that in the case of sample AS-2 acidification due to the volcanic activity could be one of the main environmental stress factor, while in case of the other samples (especially AS-1, AS-5 and AS-10) the low temperature owing to the presence of permafrost and the freeze-thaw cycles could be the main selective factors determining the bacterial community compositions. AS-1, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-2, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-5, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-10, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-14, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-13, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) Simba crater lake, Andes (Demergasso et al. 2010) Lake Namucuo, Tibetan plateau (Xing et al. 2009) Socompa volcano, Andes (Costello et al. 2009) Socompa volcano, Andes (Costello et al. 2009) 6500 6500 5900 5900 4350 3770 5870 4718 5824 5824 Sediment Sediment Sediment Sediment Sediment Sediment Sediment Cold fumarole Warm fumarole Elevation (m.a.s.l.) Sediment Origin of sample Sample type + Aquificae + DeinococcusThermus + + + Chloroflexi + Nitrospirae + Chalditrix + + + + + + Cyanobacteria + Chlorobi + + + + + + + + Alphaproteobacteria + + + + + + + + Betaproteobacteria Table 3 Comparison of bacterial phyla detected by clone libraries from the lake sediments of Ojos del Salado and other volcanic, high-altitude or permafrost environments + + + + + + + Gammaproteobacteria Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 613 13 13 Socompa volcano, Andes (Costello et al. 2009) Llullaillaco volcano, Andes (Lynch et al. 2012) La Gorce mountain, Antarctica (Aislabie et al. 2006) Princess Elisabeth Station, Antarctica (Peeters et al. 2011) Volcanic sediment, Japan (Fujimura et al. 2012) Rongbuk glacier, morain lake, Mount Everest (Liu et al. 2009) Glacier meltwater, Mount Everest (Liu et al. 2009) Salar de Aguas Calíentes, Andes (Demergasso et al. 2010) Laguna Lejía, Andes (Demergasso et al. 2010) Laguna Vilama, Andes (Farías et al. 2009) 5824 6330 1800 nd 775 5140 6350 4200 4325 4650 Sediment Sediment Sediment Sediment Water Water Water Water Water Elevation (m.a.s.l.) Sediment Origin of sample Sample type Table 3 continued Aquificae DeinococcusThermus + + Chloroflexi Nitrospirae Chalditrix + + Cyanobacteria Chlorobi + + + + + + Alphaproteobacteria + + + + + + Betaproteobacteria + + + + + Gammaproteobacteria 614 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 AS-1, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-2, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-5, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-10, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-14, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) AS-13, Ojos del Salado, Dry Andes (this study) Simba crater lake, Andes (Demergasso et al. 2010) Lake Namucuo, Tibetan plateau (Xing et al. 2009) Socompa volcano, Andes (Costello et al. 2009) Socompa volcano, Andes (Costello et al. 2009) Origin of sample Table 3 continued + + + + + + + + + + + Acidobacteria + + Planctomycetes + + Actinobacteria + + + + Firmicutes + + Epsilone proteobacteria + + + + Deltaproteobacteria + + + + + + + + + Bacteroidetes + + + + Verrucomicrobia + + Gemmatimonadetes + WS5 + + TM7 + OD1 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 615 13 13 Deltaproteobacteria Socompa volcano, Andes (Costello et al. 2009) Llullaillaco volcano, Andes (Lynch et al. 2012) La Gorce mountain, Antarctica (Aislabie et al. 2006) Princess Elisabeth Station, Antarctica (Peeters et al. 2011) Volcanic sediment, Japan (Fujimura et al. 2012) Rongbuk glacier, morain lake, Mount Everest (Liu et al. 2009) Glacier meltwater, Mount Everest (Liu et al. 2009) Salar de Aguas Calíentes, Andes (Demergasso et al. 2010) + Laguna Lejía, Andes (Demergasso et al. 2010) Origin of sample Table 3 continued Epsilone proteobacteria + + + + + + + + Actinobacteria + + Firmicutes + + + Planctomycetes + + + Acidobacteria + + + + + + + Bacteroidetes + + + Verrucomicrobia + Gemmatimonadetes WS5 + + TM7 OD1 616 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 Extremophiles (2016) 20:603–620 617 Conclusions + References nd no data Laguna Vilama, Andes (Farías et al. 2009) Origin of sample Table 3 continued Deltaproteobacteria Epsilone proteobacteria Firmicutes Actinobacteria Planctomycetes Acidobacteria Bacteroidetes Verrucomicrobia Gemmatimonadetes WS5 TM7 OD1 The results of this study demonstrated that sediments of high-altitude lakes located in the Ojos del Salado volcano, Dry-Andes maintain bacterial communities with decreasing phylogenetic diversity along with the increasing altitude. 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