Abstract

Inside the frame of the environmental baseline studies of Salar de Llamara, the microbial and metabolic diversity were assessed together with the geochemical, limnological, and hydrological aspects. For determining the microbial and metabolic diversity inhabiting the gypsum evaporites new generation sequencing techniques for metagenomes have been selected. Core samples of the evaporites have been collected and four colour layers were isolated for the DNA extraction and sequencing. Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Cyanobacteria dominate the microbial communities. Interestingly, more than 30% of the sequences retrieved have not close neighbors in available databases, which reveals a high degree of novelty. The intrinsic variability of the microbial communities, the continuous updating in the state of the art and of the databases arise a big challenge for a rational and useful strategy for environmental impact studies and assessment.