Carbonate-Dissolving Bacteria from ‘Miliolite’, a Bioclastic Limestone, from Gopnath, Gujarat, Western India

Abstract

In the present investigation, the abundance and molecular phylogeny of part of the culturable bacterial population involved in the dissolution of “miliolite”, a bioclastic limestone, from Gopnath, India, was studied. Carbonate-dissolving bacteria were isolated, enumerated and screened for their ability to dissolve miliolite. Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) indicated 14 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) to be distributed in 5 different clades at a similarity coefficient of 0.85. Then, 16S rRNA sequence analysis helped to decipher that the majority of carbonate-dissolving bacteria were affiliated to phyla Firmicutes (Families Bacillaceae and Staphylococcaceae) and Actinobacteria (Family Promicromonosporaceae) indicating their role in miliolite weathering.