Characterization of Bacterial Communities in Volcanic Soil from Northern Patagonian Area of Chile

Aguila-Torres, Patricia, González, Mauricio, Hernández, Marcela, Aguado-Norese, Constanza, Maldonado, Jonathan E., Miranda, Richard M., González-Stegmaier, Roxana, Palma, Daniel E., Rojas, Luis A. and Mellado, Macarena (2025) Characterization of Bacterial Communities in Volcanic Soil from Northern Patagonian Area of Chile. Microorganisms, 13 (11). pp. 1-20. ISSN 2076-2607

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Abstract

Osorno volcano (41.1° S, 72° W) is located in the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone. The volcano lies within a national park as part of the protected areas system. This setting provides an opportunity to compare soil microbial communities between sectors with (H) and without (NI) anthropogenic activities within a volcanic territory. To do so, we selected one of the most visited volcanoes in Chilean Patagonia to examine composition, diversity (taxonomic and phylogenetic), and co-presence and mutual exclusion interaction networks between members of volcanic soil bacterial communities. Soil DNA was extracted, and the 16S rRNA gene was analyzed by high-throughput DNA sequencing, followed by taxonomic identification. The most prevalent phylum across all sites (H and NI) was Pseudomonadota, followed by Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, and Chloroflexota. Based on taxonomic and phylogenetic indices, we found that the diversity of bacteria was significantly less in the humanized area than in the non-intervened areas. Beta diversity analysis also revealed a clear separation between humanized and non-intervened soils. Additionally, a decrease in network connectivity was observed at NI sites. Our results provide clear evidence that anthropogenic factors, such as tourism, vehicle parking, and combustion processes, are key drivers shaping bacterial community structure in volcanic soils, with potential consequences for ecosystem health and the capacity to provide ecosystem services.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data Availability Statement: 16S rRNA gene sequencing data have been submitted to the NCBI BioProject database under accession number PRJNA974056. Acknowledgments: The authors thank Barbara Morales Aguilar for helping with sampling.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	northern patagonia,osorno volcano,microbial communities,volcanic soils,microbiology,microbiology (medical),virology ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2400/2404
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Wolfson Centre for Advanced Environmental Microbiology Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Molecular Microbiology
Related URLs:	https://www.scopus.com/pages/publication...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	19 May 2026 08:39
Last Modified:	19 May 2026 08:39
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103082
DOI:	10.3390/microorganisms13112519

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