Biosignatures of diverse eukaryotic life from a Snowball Earth analogue environment in Antarctica.

ABSTRACT: The ephemeral, supraglacial meltwater ponds of the McMurdo Ice Shelf's undulating ice serve as analogues for refugia where eukaryotic organisms could have thrived during the Cryogenian period. The seafloor sediment and debris lined ponds support the growth of a diverse array of cyanobacterial mat communities and provide habitats for a variety of protists and meiofauna. Here, we show that these eukaryotic assemblages, assessed by steroid biomarker and 18S rRNA gene analyses, inform long-standing questions regarding the diversity of, and controls on, community composition in these environments. Sixteen photosynthetically active microbial mats from meltwater ponds, a 700-year-old relict microbial mat, and a microbial mat from the Bratina Lagoon were analysed for their sterol compositions. The

SUBMITTER: Husain F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12179283 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature