The Taxonomic Diversity of Prokaryotic Communities from Permafrost Active Layers of the Chilean Andes

The study of microorganisms inhabiting extreme environments offers a valuable opportunity to explore their potential ecological roles. This study aimed to reveal and compare the microbial taxonomic diversity of largely unexplored permafrost regions located in different climatic zones (dry and wet) in the Chilean Andes, separated by thousands of kilometers. Permafrost active layer samples were collected from the Ojos del Salado (Atacama Desert) and the Torres del Paine (Patagonia) from different sampling depths. Illumina 16S rRNA gene-based amplicon sequencing revealed that the Andean permafrost active layer provides diverse habitats for distinct microbial communities, with higher taxonomic diversity of Bacteria than Archaea. The wet Patagonian Andes samples showed higher diversity, with a greater abundance of <i>Chloroflexota</i> and <i>Bacteroidota</i>, while the dry Ojos del Salado samples were dominated by <i>Actinomycetota</i>, indicating desiccation stress. Archaea were classified as ammonia-oxidizing members of the <i>Thermoproteota</i> phylum. Beta-diversity analyses suggested that differences in environmental conditions (mainly available moisture) contributed more to community structure differentiation than geographical distances. Nevertheless, the effect of sampling depth on microbial diversity was insignificant.