Prokaryotic Diversity at the Hypersaline Laguna Tebenquiche in the Salar de Atacama, Chile

Abstract

Laguna Tebenquiche is one of the largest waterbodies in the Salar de Atacama. The prokaryotic microorganisms inhabiting this lake are subjected to extreme conditions such as high solar radiation due to a lower barometric pressure at high altitude, extreme daily temperature fluctuations, severe changes in salinity caused by net evaporation, and high arsenic concentrations in the water owing to volcanic events. The microbial community of Laguna Tebenquiche was studied using culture-dependent and culture-independent molecular methods and more recently, metagenomic analyses. These multifarious approaches allowed determination of the prokaryotic diversity in the various microbial ecosystems comprising Laguna Tebenquiche. Here, we describe the main results from the different approaches/analyses, the most relevant results for understanding the ecology of this extreme environment, and discuss future perspectives for diversity/microbial ecological studies.