Metagenomic comparisons reveal a highly diverse and unique viral community in a seasonally fluctuating hypersaline microbial mat.

ABSTRACT: In spring 2016, a shallow hypersaline pond (50×25 m) was found in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB). This pond, known as Archaean Domes (AD) because of its elastic microbial mats that form dome-shaped structures due to the production of reducing gases reminiscent of the Archaean eon, such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, harbour a highly diverse microbial community, rich in halophilic and methanogenic archaea. AD is a seasonally fluctuating hypersaline site, with salinity ranging from low hypersaline (5.3%) during the wet season to high hypersaline (saturation) during the dry season. To characterize the viral community and to test whether it resembles those of other hypersaline sites (whose diversity is conditioned by salinity), or if it is similar to other CCB sites (with which it shares a

SUBMITTER: Cisneros-Martinez AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10438804 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature