16S rRNA Gene Diversity in the Salt Crust of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, the World’s Largest Salt Flat

Abstract

Salar de Uyuni is a vast, high-altitude salt flat in Bolivia with extreme physico-geochemical properties approaching multiple limits of life. Evidence for diverse halophilic bacteria and archaea was found in its surface and near-surface salt crust using 16S amplicon analysis, providing a snapshot of prokaryotic life.