20.500.12556/DiRROS-27958 Microbiome analysis of groundwaters in the Slovenian Dinaric Karst, a recognized biodiversity hotspot Groundwater is the most important source of drinking water supply, irrigation, and industrial use, as well as a habitat for a diverse range of (micro)organisms. Some of the first studies of underground environments were carried out in the Dinaric Karst region of Slovenia, which harbors one of the highest subterranean biodiversities in the world. Despite their ecological importance, groundwater microbial communities remain underexplored. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive microbiome analysis of karst groundwater, investigating the abundance and diversity of viruses, archaea, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. We detected a high diversity of both prokaryote- and eukaryote-infecting viruses, indicating the connection of subterranean environments with surface waters. In the archaeal community, seven different phyla were identified, dominated by members of "Candidatus Woesearchaeota" and Nitrososphaerota (syn. Thermoproteota). In the bacterial community of majority of the samples, the Pseudomonadota was the most abundant phylum, followed by Bacteroidota, Actinomycetota, and Verrucomicrobiota. Fungal abundance and diversity differed greatly between cave water samples, with the Ascomycota families Cladosporiaceae, Didymellaceae, Aspergillaceae and saprotrophic Basidiomycota detected in all samples. Besides fungi, microscopic eukaryotic diversity consisted of ciliates, copepods and golden-brown algae present in all samples. Differences in microbial communities between the sampling sites highlight the need for tailored site-specific groundwater conservation and monitoring strategies. Moreover, the identification of microbes associated with anthropogenic activities underscores their potential as source-specific indicators of groundwater pollution. As the first holistic overview of microbial diversity of subterranean water, the study establishes a valuable baseline for future research and conservation of these unique karst ecosystems. Karst cave water high-throughput sequencing viruses archaea bacteria fungi protozoa kraške jamske vode visokozmogljivo sekvenciranje virusi arheje bakterije glive praživali true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2026-03-02 15:11:15 2026-03-02 15:11:17 2026-03-03 15:13:40 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Soavtorji: Denis Kutnjak, Cene Gostinčar, Rok Kostanjšek, Janez Mulec, Monika Novak Babič, Ion Gutierrez Aguirre, Nina Gunde-Cimerman, Martina Turk; Opis vira z dne 24. 2. 2026; str. 1-9 Vol. 311, [article no.] 119890 Feb. 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-02-14 556.388:579(497.4) 1090-2414 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2026.119890 269422851 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651326002198?via%3Dihub 1 b269ffdf-1641-11f1-8c73-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=41192 RAZ_Bacnik_Katarina_2026.pdf RAZ_Bacnik_Katarina_2026.pdf 1 C67293BD5788239F15FD457051F9FD85 ba1adf79ae87884ea09d062f3c8dc45bca03ea1819d2c7855fd70dc9a588f606 c9eee263-1641-11f1-8c73-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=41193 Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo Supplementary material: microbiome analysis of groundwaters in the Slovenian Dinaric Karst, a recognized biodiversity hotspot 0 0 0