School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia.
Department of Chemistry and Physics, Arcadia University, Glenside, Philadelphia, 19038, USA.
Sci Rep. 2016 Sep 6;6:32738. doi: 10.1038/srep32738.
More than 97% of the world's freshwater reserves are found in aquifers, making groundwater one of the most important resources on the planet. Prokaryotic communities in groundwater underpin the turnover of energy and matter while also maintaining groundwater purity. Thus, knowledge of microbial transport in the subsurface is crucial for maintaining groundwater health. Here, we describe for the first time the importance of stygofauna as vectors for prokaryotes. The "hitch-hiking" prokaryotes associated with stygofauna may be up to 5 orders of magnitude higher in abundance and transported up to 34× faster than bulk groundwater flow. We also demonstrate that prokaryotic diversity associated with stygofauna may be higher than that of the surrounding groundwater. Stygofauna are a newly recognized prokaryotic niche in groundwater ecosystems that have the potential to transport remediating, water purifying and pathogenic prokaryotes. Therefore, stygofauna may influence ecosystem dynamics and health at a microbial level, and at a larger scale could be a new source of prokaryotic diversity in groundwater ecosystems.
超过 97%的世界淡水储量存在于含水层中，这使得地下水成为地球上最重要的资源之一。地下水的原核生物群落支撑着能量和物质的转化，同时保持地下水的纯净。因此，了解地下水中微生物的迁移对于维护地下水的健康至关重要。在这里，我们首次描述了地下动物作为原核生物载体的重要性。与地下动物相关的“搭便车”原核生物的丰度可能高达 5 个数量级，其迁移速度比地下水的整体流动速度快 34 倍。我们还证明了与地下动物相关的原核生物多样性可能高于周围地下水的多样性。地下动物是地下水生态系统中一个新发现的原核生物小生境，它们有可能运输修复、净化水和致病的原核生物。因此，地下动物可能会在微生物水平上影响生态系统的动态和健康，在更大的范围内，它们可能成为地下水生态系统中原核生物多样性的新来源。
