Open AccessMicrobialite genetic diversity and composition relate to environmental variables
Author(s) -
Centeno Carla M.,
Legendre Pierre,
Beltrán Yislem,
AlcántaraHernández Rocío J.,
Lidström Ulrika E.,
Ashby Matthew N.,
Falcón Luisa I.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2012.01447.x
Subject(s) - biology , diversity (politics) , composition (language) , genetic diversity , evolutionary biology , ecology , anthropology , environmental health , population , sociology , medicine , linguistics , philosophy
Microbialites have played an important role in the early history of life on E arth. Their fossilized forms represent the oldest evidence of life on our planet dating back to 3500 Ma. Extant microbialites have been suggested to be highly productive and diverse communities with an evident role in the cycling of major elements, and in contributing to carbonate precipitation. Although their ecological and evolutionary importance has been recognized, the study of their genetic diversity is yet scanty. The main goal of this study was to analyse microbial genetic diversity of microbialites living in different types of environments throughout M exico, including desert ponds, coastal lagoons and a crater‐lake. We followed a pyrosequencing approach of hypervariable regions of the 16 S r RNA gene. Results showed that microbialite communities were very diverse ( H ′ = 6–7) and showed geographic variation in composition, as well as an environmental effect related to p H and conductivity, which together explained 33% of the genetic variation. All microbialites had similar proportions of major bacterial and archaeal phyla.