Arce-Rodríguez Alejandro, Libby Eduardo, Castellón Erick, Avendaño Roberto, Cambronero Juan Carlos, Vargas Maribel, Pieper Dietmar H, Bertilsson Stefan, Chavarría Max, Puente-Sánchez Fernando
Institute of Microbiology, Technical University of Braunschweig, 38106, Brunswick, Germany.
Microbial Interactions and Processes Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, 38124, Brunswick, Germany.
Environ Microbiome. 2023 Jan 19;18(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s40793-023-00464-2.
Río Celeste ("Sky-Blue River") is a river located in the Tenorio National Park (Costa Rica) that has become an important hotspot for eco-tourism due to its striking sky-blue color. A previous study indicated that this color is not caused by dissolved chemical species, but by formation of light-scattering aluminosilicate particles at the mixing point of two colorless streams, the acidic Quebrada Agria and the neutral Río Buenavista.
We now present microbiological information on Río Celeste and its two tributaries, as well as a more detailed characterization of the particles that occur at the mixing point. Our results overturn the previous belief that the light scattering particles are formed by the aggregation of smaller particles coming from Río Buenavista, and rather point to chemical formation of hydroxyaluminosilicate colloids when Quebrada Agria is partially neutralized by Río Buenavista, which also contributes silica to the reaction. The process is mediated by the activities of different microorganisms in both streams. In Quebrada Agria, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria generate an acidic environment, which in turn cause dissolution and mobilization of aluminum and other metals. In Río Buenavista, the growth of diatoms transforms dissolved silicon into colloidal biogenic forms which may facilitate particle precipitation.
We show how the sky-blue color of Río Celeste arises from the tight interaction between chemical and biological processes, in what constitutes a textbook example of emergent behavior in environmental microbiology.
天蓝色河（“天蓝河”）位于（哥斯达黎加的）特诺里奥国家公园内，因其醒目的天蓝色而成为生态旅游的重要热点地区。先前的一项研究表明，这种颜色并非由溶解的化学物质造成，而是由两条无色溪流——酸性的阿格里亚河和中性的布埃纳维斯塔河在汇流处形成的光散射铝硅酸盐颗粒所致。
我们现在展示了关于天蓝色河及其两条支流的微生物学信息，以及对汇流处出现的颗粒的更详细表征。我们的结果推翻了先前的观点，即光散射颗粒是由来自布埃纳维斯塔河的较小颗粒聚集形成的，而是表明当阿格里亚河被布埃纳维斯塔河部分中和时，羟基铝硅酸盐胶体通过化学反应形成，布埃纳维斯塔河也为该反应提供了硅。这个过程由两条溪流中不同微生物的活动介导。在阿格里亚河中，硫氧化细菌产生酸性环境，进而导致铝和其他金属的溶解与迁移。在布埃纳维斯塔河中，硅藻的生长将溶解的硅转化为胶体生物源形式，这可能有助于颗粒沉淀。
我们展示了天蓝色河的天蓝色是如何由化学和生物过程之间的紧密相互作用产生的，这构成了环境微生物学中涌现行为的一个典型例子。
