Protist communities of microbial mats from the extreme environments of five saline Andean lagoons at high altitudes in the Atacama Desert.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Heterotrophic protists colonizing microbial mats have received little attention over the last few years, despite their importance in microbial food webs. A significant challenge originates from the fact that many protists remain uncultivable and their functions remain poorly understood.

Methods

Metabarcoding studies of protists in microbial mats across high-altitude lagoons of different salinities (4.3-34 practical salinity units) were carried out to provide insights into their vertical stratification at the millimeter scale. DNA and cDNA were analyzed for selected stations.

Results

Sequence variants classified as the amoeboid rhizarian Rhogostoma and the ciliate Euplotes were found to be common members of the heterotrophic protist communiti

SUBMITTER: Acosta E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10987879 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature