Phylogenetic characterization of the blue filamentous bacterial community from an Icelandic geothermal spring

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of a blue filamentous community from an alkaline thermal spring (79-83 degrees C) in Iceland revealed that the blue filaments were affiliated with the Aquificales. The dominant sequence type, pIce1, was most closely related to a sequence (SRI-48) found in a white filamentous community from a separate Icelandic thermal spring and the pink filaments (EM17) from Yellowstone National Park. Fluorescent in situ hybridization with clone-specific oligonucleotide probes showed that the sample analyzed was essentially a monoculture of a single phylotype.