Composition and structure of microbial communities from stromatolites of Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay, Western Australia.

ABSTRACT: Stromatolites, organosedimentary structures formed by microbial activity, are found throughout the geological record and are important markers of biological history. More conspicuous in the past, stromatolites occur today in a few shallow marine environments, including Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Hamelin Pool stromatolites often have been considered contemporary analogs to ancient stromatolites, yet little is known about the microbial communities that build them. We used DNA-based molecular phylogenetic methods that do not require cultivation to study the microbial diversity of an irregular stromatolite and of the surface and interior of a domal stromatolite. To identify the constituents of the stromatolite communities, small subunit rRNA genes were amplified by PCR from

SUBMITTER: Papineau D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1183352 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature