Abstract

The lacustrine systems of La Brava and La Punta, located in the Tilopozo sector in the extreme south of Salar de Atacama, are pristine high-altitude Andean lakes found along the central Andes of South America. This shallow ecosystem suffers from permanent evaporation, leading to falling water levels, causing it to recede or disappear during the dry season. This dynamic causes physicochemical changes in lakes, such as low nutrient availability, pH change, and dissolved metals, which can influence the composition of the microbial community. In this study, we used a metataxonomic approach (16S rRNA hypervariable regions V3 to V4) to characterize the sedimentary microbiota of these lakes. To understand how the water column affects and is structured in the microbiota of these lakes, we combined the analysis of the persistence of the water column through satellite images and physicochemical characterization. Our results show a significant difference in abiotic factors and microbiota composition between La Punta and La Brava lakes. In addition, microbiota analysis revealed compositional changes in the ecological disaggregation (main and isolated bodies) and antagonistic changes in the abundance of certain taxa between lakes. These findings are an invaluable resource for understanding the microbiological diversity of high Andean lakes using a multidisciplinary approach that evaluates the microbiota behavior in response to abiotic factors.