ArticleThe ISME journal2012
Community genomic analysis of an extremely acidophilic sulfur-oxidizing biofilm.
Article in The ISME journal, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dolutegravir restores gut microbiota in late-stage HIV-1 unlike darunavir: an open-label, randomized clinical trial.Nature communications · 2026Trial
- Volatilized Ammonia Supports Subterranean Ecosystems with Unusual Nitrogen Isotopic Signatures.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Microbial Diversity Across Chemolithotrophic and Phototrophic Biofilms in Cold Sulfur Springs.MicrobiologyOpen · 2026Article
- Microbial Chemical Diversity and Cytotoxic Potential From Brazilian Ferruginous Caves: A Pioneering Metabolomic Survey.Chemistry & biodiversity · 2026Article
- Response and adaptation of verrucomicrobial methanotrophs to heat and acidity.Archives of microbiology · 2025Article
- Microbial ecology of acidic, biogenic gypsum: community structure and distribution of extremophiles on freshly formed and relict sulfate deposits in a hydrogen sulfide-rich cave.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Multiple Environmental Factors Shaping Hopanoid-Producing Microbes Across Different Ecosystems.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Acidophilic sulphate-reducing bacteria: Diversity, ecophysiology, and applications.Environmental microbiology reports · 2024Review
- Autotrophic biofilms sustained by deeply sourced groundwater host diverse bacteria implicated in sulfur and hydrogen metabolism.Microbiome · 2024Article
- The geomicrobiology of limestone, sulfuric acid speleogenetic, and volcanic caves: basic concepts and future perspectives.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- Thiothrix and Sulfurovum genera dominate bacterial mats in Slovak cold sulfur springs.Environmental microbiome · 2023Article
- Metagenome Analysis of Speleothem Microbiome from Subterranean Cave Reveals Insight into Community Structure, Metabolic Potential, and BGCs Diversity.Current microbiology · 2023Article
- Convergent Community Assembly among Globally Separated Acidic Cave Biofilms.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
- Establishing a green biodesulfurization process for iron ore concentrates in stirred tank and leaching column bioreactors usingFrontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Archaea and their interactions with bacteria in a karst ecosystem.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Competition-cooperation in the chemoautotrophic ecosystem of Movile Cave: first metagenomic approach on sediments.Environmental microbiome · 2022Article
- Cultivable microbial diversity in speleothems using MALDI-TOF spectrometry and DNA sequencing from Krem Soitan, Krem Lawbah, Krem Mawpun, Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India.Archives of microbiology · 2022Article
- The Evaluation of Bacterial Abundance and Functional Potentials in the Three Major Watersheds, Located in the Hot Spring Zone of the Tatun Volcano Group Basin, Taiwan.Microorganisms · 2022Article
- The Novel Strain Acidomyces acidophilum Isolated from Acidophilic Biofilms (Snottites) Located in the Sheki-Heh Cave (North Caucasus).Current microbiology · 2022Article
- Microbial roles in cave biogeochemical cycling.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Review
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Highly acidic (pH 0-1) biofilms, known as 'snottites', form on the walls and ceilings of hydrogen sulfide-rich caves. We investigated the population structure, physiology and biogeochemistry of these biofilms using metagenomics, rRNA methods and lipid geochemistry. Snottites from the Frasassi cave system (Italy) are dominated (>70% of cells) by Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, with smaller populations including an archaeon in the uncultivated 'G-plasma' clade of Thermoplasmatales (>15%) and a bacterium in the Acidimicrobiaceae family (>5%). Based on metagenomic evidence, the Acidithiobacillus population is autotrophic (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), carboxysomes) and oxidizes sulfur by the sulfide-quinone reductase and sox pathways. No reads matching nitrogen fixation genes were detected in the metagenome, whereas multiple matches to nitrogen assimilation functions are present, consistent with geochemical evidence, that fixed nitrogen is available in the snottite environment to support autotrophic growth. Evidence for adaptations to extreme acidity include Acidithiobacillus sequences for cation transporters and hopanoid synthesis, and direct measurements of hopanoid membrane lipids. Based on combined metagenomic, molecular and geochemical evidence, we suggest that Acidithiobacillus is the snottite architect and main primary producer, and that snottite morphology and distributions in the cave environment are directly related to the supply of C, N and energy substrates from the cave atmosphere.
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