Use of specific PCR primers for the study of sulfate-reducing bacteria diversity in microbial mats of Ebro Delta, Spain

Microbial mats are prokaryotic communities that provide model systems to analyze microbial diversity and ecophysiological interactions. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) play a key role in sulfur and nutrient recycling in these ecosystems. In this work, specific primers for 16S rRNA encoding gene, previously described, were used to study the diversity of SRB in microbial mats of the Ebro Delta. We confirm that this method is reliable to identify the diversity of SRB in these ecosystems. However, some mismatches in obtained sequences had been observed in our system and must be taken under consideration. Various genera of SRB in Ebro Delta microbial mats were identified, such as Desulfonema, Desulfatitalea, Desulfosalsimonas, Desulfoccocus, and Desulfovibrio. The diversity observed in our samples is very similar to previously reported in other microbial mats communities.